


Nothing More

by ClearSkyBlue



Category: Winner (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bittersweet, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Main couple is Kangnam, Namsong is suggested
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8465530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClearSkyBlue/pseuds/ClearSkyBlue
Summary: Taehyun had drawn the line of their relationship. They were occasional hook ups and nothing more, but that did not stop Seungyoon from falling in deeper.





	1. Chapter 1

It started how most hookups probably start. They had gotten alcohol in their hands. They had just gotten accepted into the university they all wanted to go to and wanted to celebrate that success. What exactly happened in that party? Only God knew, but what Kang Seungyoon did know was that he woke up hungover and naked next to Nam Taehyun. Seungyoon was in complete shock. He did not know how to react in moments like that. Taehyun, though, who had woken up a few minutes after Seungyoon, knew exactly how to react: with a sleepy “good morning” and continuing with his morning routine. He had put his clothes from last night on (they had woken up at Seungyoon’s apartment so it was not like he had any other clothes) and went to prepare breakfast. It had dumbfounded Seungyoon. How could Taehyun react so normally to any of this? Seungyoon was freaking out internally. He already liked Taehyun as more than a friend; he never thought he would sleep with him before any feelings were confessed. 

 

Still, Taehyun reacting like that had to mean something. Something Seungyoon wanted to know. It slightly gave him hope. Maybe Taehyun reciprocated his feelings in some way. Seungyoon decided he would ask after taking a shower and getting dressed. After taking a shower and getting dressed, he went to the kitchen where Taehyun had prepared coffee and toast for the both of them. Seungyoon felt awkward being there. He did not know how to bring up the subject he desperately needed to talk about. After minutes of painfully awkward silence on Seungyoon’s side and drinking coffee to ease the hangover, he was able to open his mouth to say something.

 

“So… um…”

 

Taehyun put his cup down and looked at him, “Yes?”

How to do this? Seungyoon thought and looked down, “About last night…”

“Think nothing of it,” Taehyun said suddenly. Seungyoon looked at him with wide eyes. “We were both dead drunk. We didn’t know what we were doing. It means nothing, okay?” Taehyun said before taking a big chug of coffee and shuddering at the bitterness. “Argh, hot…” He muttered. Seungyoon couldn’t help but think how cute Taehyun looked at the moment. He formed a smile that did not reach his eyes. No matter how cute Taehyun looked at this moment, it did not change the fact that he was hurt at Taehyun for thinking last night meant nothing to him. 

Still, it was not like he was going to say something about it. “Okay,” He said before taking a sip of his coffee. Taehyun smiled. 

“Still my friend, still my hyung, right?” He asked; that smile still on his pretty face.

“Still your friend… Still your hyung…” Seungyoon answered looking at his coffee. And nothing more…

After that, they ate their toast in silence. This time, the silence was pretty comfortable, even though there were many words left unsaid on Seungyoon’s part.

 

After Taehyun finished with his toast and clapped his hands together, catching Seungyoon’s attention, “Ooh, we should call the other hyungs. See how they’re holding up.” He got out of his chair and went to the couch with his phone in hand. He then patted the area next to him in the couch for Seungyoon to sit next to him. Seungyoon shoved what was left of his toast in his mouth and went to sit next to Taehyun. “Let’s call Minho hyung first,” Taehyun said as he dialled Minho’s number and put it on speaker. 

 

“Hello…?” Minho answered a few seconds later groggily.

“Minho hyung~” Taehyun answered with a smile. 

“Ah, Taehyun!” Minho said, not sounding that groggy anymore.

“How are you holding up, hyung?” Taehyun asked.

“I’m holding up okay. Just hoping the hangover would go away soon,” Minho groaned. “You?”

“I’m okay, too. It hurts everywhere badly,” Taehyun laughed drily and scratched the back of his head.

“Urgh, I know. Be sure to drink lots fluids though, and take some aspirin, too,” Minho told him.

“You, too, hyung,” Taehyun smiled. There was some seconds of silence. “I woke up on Seungyoon hyung’s couch by the way. Can you believe that?” Taehyun lied and laughed drily again. Seungyoon raised an eyebrow. He didn’t really appreciate Taehyun lying.

“Seungyoon’s there? Hi, Seungyoon!” Minho said happily.

“Hi, hyung,” Seungyoon answered with a smile.

“Ah, man Taehyun… You got lucky… I woke up in Seunghoon hyung’s lawn! How the fuck did I even get there?!” Seunghoon could be heard dying of laughter in the background. Seungyoon and Taehyun also laughed. “Shut up!” Minho yelled at Seunghoon. “He luckily opened the door after ten minutes of me knocking hard. He looked like he was about to kill me. He’s now letting me crash on the couch though,” Minho said to Taehyun and Seungyoon.

“That’s good,” Taehyun smiled softly. “Do you know anything of Jinwoo though?”

“Yeah, I called him a while ago,” Minho said. “He woke in his tub. Fell asleep in the middle of a bath. He was fine, just cold. He says we all owe him because he found two broken lamps, a broken window, and vomit on the carpet.” 

“Ew,” Taehyun made a face. “Poor him…”

“Yeah… Anyway, I’ll be leaving you now,” Minho yawned, “My head is pounding. I need rest.”

“Okay. Goodbye, hyung. We’ll talk later,” Taehyun said.

“Goodbye,” Seungyoon said.

“Bye, guys,” Minho yawned again. A faint goodbye could be heard from Seunghoon in the background, and then Minho hanged up.

Taehyun laughed a little and put his phone on his pocket, “Even though I can’t remember half of it, last night was amazing.” 

Seungyoon nodded in agreement, “Yes, definitely.” After that, silence filled them. 

Taehyun then stood up after a couple of seconds and coughed, “Well then, I have to go now. Promised my mom I would visit her today.” He took his hand out and Seungyoon shook it. “I’ll see you later, hyung.” 

“Bye,” Seungyoon said and hesitantly let go of Taehyun’s hand. Taehyun smiled and waved goodbye before leaving through the front door. Seungyoon watched every step he took and sighed. He would have to pretend that whatever happened last night never happened in the first place. He spent the rest of the day trying to convince himself nothing happened last night.

 

Seungyoon never thought forgetting something that he could not remember would be so hard.

 

As the days passed, Seungyoon would remember itsy-bitsy details of that night. Itsy-bitsy details that would make his face go all red, and he would have to splash his face with water and hide in the bathroom for long periods of time. He wondered if Taehyun was going through the same thing. 

 

He received his answer about a month and a half after the big party. Having started university about a week and a half ago, Seungyoon was studying the subjects he had been taking when his phone rang. It was Taehyun. Seungyoon was confused at first. They had not really communicated since that day; only when the others were around. Still, his heart started beating fast when he saw it was Taehyun, but it did not stop him from asking what did Taehyun wanted. “Hello, Taehyun?” He said when he answered the phone.

“Hyung…” Taehyun answered, slightly breathlessly. 

Seungyoon leaned forward on his chair, “Taehyun, what’s up?” 

Taehyun stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. Then he sighed, “Oh what am I doing? I’m sorry, Seungyoon hyung. I’m wasting your time.” 

“Nah, nah, don’t say that,” Seungyoon smiled and leaned back. “You never waste my time, Taehyun. Now tell me what you were going to say.”

Taehyun gulped, “Don’t judge, okay?”

“Do I look like someone who judges?” Seungyoon raised a brow; curious of what Taehyun had to say.

Taehyun took a deep breath, “Well you know…” He stayed quiet again. “Argh, this is so embarrassing!” He said loudly. It almost hurt Seungyoon’s ear.

Seungyoon chuckled, “C’mon, Tae.” 

Taehyun took another deep breath and quickly said, “You remember that day, right?”

Seungyoon raised a brow, “What day?”

“That day,” Taehyun said again, “you know, that day about one or two months ago.”

Seungyoon stayed quiet, thinking of what day he was talking about. “Do you mean that day? When we woke u-?”

“Yeah, that day!” Taehyun said quickly, interrupting the older.

Seungyoon gulped. Why was Taehyun mentioning that day? Has he been thinking about it just as much a Seungyoon? “What about that day?” 

“Well, I’ve been thinking,” Taehyun gulped.

“Yeah…?” Seungyoon answered.

“I’ve been thinking… I’ve been thinking, um…” Taehyun hesitated, and Seungyoon stayed quiet as he waited for Taehyun to say what he wanted to say. “Maybe we could… maybe…”

“C’mon, spill it out, Taehyun,” Seungyoon said.

“Maybewecoulddoitagain,” Taehyun said it so quickly that it took a second for Seungyoon to realize what he had said, but once he did, his eyes widened.

“You m-mean h-have s-?” Seungyoon stuttered his words.

“I’ve been stressed lately, okay?!” Taehyun suddenly shouted. “What better way…” He then mumbled, but Seungyoon could not get a word out. Did Taehyun really just asked him to do the deed? Oh, my goodness… “You know what? Forget it, hyung. This conversation never happened, okay?” 

Taehyun was about to hang up when Seungyoon yelled, “Wait!”

“Huh?” Taehyun asked.

“At least, let me give you an answer,” Seungyoon took a big deep breath. His heart was beating so fast. “W-why me though?” He said instead of giving Taehyun an actual answer.

Taehyun sighed, “Well, we’ve already done it before, and I remember bits and pieces from that night and you’re actually not… that… bad…” He coughed, “Plus you’re like my best friend! So I don’t think it could affect our relationship that much.” Seungyoon blinked a couple of times. Did he just hear all of that correctly? Did Taehyun really want to do this? Dids HE really want to do this? “I’m asking for too much. It’s too weird and rude. Oh, what am I even doing? I am so sorry, Seungyoon hyung. I shouldn’t even be asking you this. Just say no. I’m fine with it.” 

Seungyoon stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, trying to make up his mind. “What… what if I accept?”

“What?” Taehyun was taken aback by the question.

“What if I say I’m okay with it? What if I say let’s do it?” Oh, Seungyoon was so crazy right now. What was he even saying?

“Then I guess I meet you at your place tonight or something…” Taehyun mumbled. Seungyoon was sure Taehyun never thought he would get this far.

He chuckled, “Okay, let’s do it.”

“What? R-Really?” Taehyun asked in shock.

“Sure, it’s nothing.” It’s everything, Seungyoon unintentionally thought.

“T-Tonight, then?” Taehyun still sounded like he couldn’t believe it. 

“Sure, my place,” Seungyoon nodded. There went his studying.

“Okay,” Taehyun said before hanging up.

Seungyoon put his phone down. “What the hell…?” He mumbled as he realised what he had just said and done. 

 

Did he just agree to have sex with Taehyun?

He did, didn’t he?

 

The rest of the day, Seungyoon spent it thinking of what was going to happen that night. He didn’t study at all. That subject did not seem as important as it did before Taehyun decided to call him up. How the hell was Taehyun able to affect him this much? To the point he said yes to a crazy request? Seungyoon must be going crazy.

 

When the sun set, Seungyoon started pacing around his front door; waiting for Taehyun to knock. He was trying to calm down his heart and regulate his breathing. It wasn’t anything, he would tell himself. It’s just sex; it means nothing. Nothing to Taehyun at least… Seungyoon sighed. What had he gotten himself into? Having sex with the man one has strong feelings just as a stress relieve should not be the way to handle things. Seungyoon wondered if he could back down now.

 

Seungyoon wondered why he did not want to back down.

 

By around nine, Taehyun still had not come, and Seungyoon started to think Taehyun might have had second thoughts. That disappointed him for some reason. He got worked up over Taehyun so much for absolutely nothing. At the moment Seungyoon was about to give up on seeing Taehyun that tonight, he received a text message. 

 

‘I’m almost there.

-Taehyun’

 

Seungyoon had calmed down by then. But at the moment he read that text message, he was almost hyperventilating, and he felt like his heart was going to explode. He could not do this anymore; not like this. Seungyoon made a beeline to his kitchenette and stopped in front of refrigerator. Inside of it was a bottle of liquor. He took it out and chugged about a quarter in one take. He shuddered slightly, and his vision blurred faintly. A smile sneaked into his face. He was much looser now. He could do this. 

 

A couple of minutes have passed when the bell rang. Seungyoon faced the door. It was Taehyun. He knew it, but he just could not answer; not until the bell rang for the third time. He opened the door to find Taehyun looking down with his hands behind his back. He slowly looked up and softly said, “Hey…” Seungyoon felt like he was going to die at that moment.

 

He let Taehyun in without saying anything, and Taehyun entered without saying anything. He looked around and took a deep breathe. “You’ve been drinking slightly,” He said, and Seungyoon nodded slightly. Taehyun chuckled lightly, “You should have left me some. This is pretty nerve-wracking. I had drunk some before calling you earlier today.”

“Ah…” Seungyoon made a noise and pointed to the fridge. He really was not sure what he was supposed to do. 

“Thanks,” Taehyun walked to the fridge and took out the bottle. He drank four big gulps from it before putting it back. “Argh…” He straightened up, “Okay, now let’s get this over with.” He walked up to Seungyoon and grabbed his hand. He smiled, and Seungyoon felt butterflies in his stomach. He suddenly felt like the biggest loser by reacting like this over Taehyun smiling. Taehyun then dragged him into the bedroom and closed the door behind. Seungyoon thought getting started was going to be the hardest thing. But with the liquor doing it all for them, it really was not that hard. 

 

It had started with light kisses here and there and lots of snickering. They would move around the room helping each other take their clothes off. Neither of them could stay serious the whole time this was happening. A shirt was off and then they would look at each other and snicker lightly before sharing a quick kiss. They did that all around the room, and it honestly felt like a dance to Seungyoon. Once most pieces of clothing were off, they fell on the bed, and things started to get a little more serious. Kisses became a little longer, and light touches became a little rougher. Seungyoon would be lying if he said he was not enjoying every single moment of it. Once it was all finished, they both collapsed exhausted, and five minutes had not passed before they both fell asleep soundlessly.

 

That morning, Seungyoon woke up alone, but he heard noise coming from the kitchen followed by a nice smell. Is Taehyun cooking ramen? Seungyoon quickly got out of bed but then remembered he was completely naked. He rapidly put on underwear and a pair of pants before going out the bedroom door. Being shirtless was nothing. 

 

When he entered the kitchen, he wanted to say good morning, but his words were stuck, and his breathing stopped. Taehyun, as Seungyoon suspected, was cooking ramen, but as Seungyoon did not suspect, he was only wearing one of Seungyoon’s oversized sweaters (That sweater was a long story. This girl that wanted to date him gave him the sweater, but it was accidentally two sizes bigger. It insulted Seungyoon more than it flattered him, but he still let her down nicely) and a pair of boxers. Seungyoon was this close to having to hide in the bathroom, but luckily Taehyun caught his attention, causing him to not focus on Taehyun’s body any longer. “Ah, hyung, good morning,” He said with a smile.

“Good m-morning,” Seungyoon stuttered slightly.

“Give me a minute,” Taehyun turned back to the pot of ramen, “This is almost done.”

“Okay,” Seunyoon nodded slightly and went to sit at the table. A few seconds Taehyun came to the table with the pot and two bowls. 

“Something quick because I have class soon,” Taehyun smiled as he served ramen to Seungyoon.

Seungyoon chuckled quietly and received the bowl, “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcomed,” Taehyun answered as he served himself a bowl. They ate in silent after that; a silence that was quickly disturbed by Taehyun slamming down his utensil and resting his head on his hand, looking down.

Seungyoon was startled, “Are you okay?”

Taehyun sighed, “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Seungyoon asked. He then thought that was the stupidest question he had ever asked.

“This,” Taehyun answered, “I honestly don’t know what we are doing right now.” Seungyoon stayed quiet. He also had no idea. “I don’t really know what I want to do with this… or what you want to do?”

Seungyoon almost blurted out that he was fine with it. He was fine with whatever Taehyun decided, but that just did not sound right; it sounded desperate. “I’ll be okay with whatever decision you make,” Seungyoon said instead. It was basically the same thing, but better worded.

“Really?” Taehyun raised his head to look at him. Seungyoon nodded. Taehyun kept looking at him and sighed, “I honestly don’t know if I do want to do this again, but if I do…”

“I’ll be fine with it,” Seungyoon shrugged, trying to look cool. “There are no feelings involved so…”

“Exactly,” Taehyun nodded. “But if I do want to do this again, it could become a regular thing…” Seungyoon’s heart started beating fast. “I could call you up if I need to, or you could call me again if you need to…?” 

Seungyoon gulped and slowly nodded, “S-Sure…” So much for trying to look cool.

“But,” Taehyun gave Seungyoon a stern look, “don’t play your heart in all of this. Don’t tell any of the other hyungs either. This is between you and me personally. This is all strictly…” He started thinking, “…business.”

“Oh, yeah, okay, definitely. Why would I?” He looked around. I mean, it’s not like my heart is already playing or anything.

“Exactly,” Taehyun smiled and nodded, “we are just… special friends… and nothing more.”

Seungyoon smiled and nodded; his heart about to explode. How could people do this without dying? “Special friends and nothing more.” Repeating those words slightly hurt him.

Taehyun then went to finish what was left on his bowl as fast as he could. He then stood up and went to the bedroom. He came back out wearing his pair of pants. “Okay, now I have to go. Class is in like,” Taehyun checked his wristwatch, “twenty minutes.” He looked up to Seungyoon, “Goodbye, hyung. I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your sweater. It’s so comfy.” Taehyun hugged himself happily. Seugyoon’s heart fluttered at how cute he looked. “Anyway, sorry you missed your morning class,” Taehyun looked down. 

Seungyoon looked at the wall clock and saw his class had ended two hours go, “Oops…”

“I heard your alarm ring, but I was tired and it annoyed me, so I turned it off,” He pouted lightly, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Seungyoon will probably skip all of his classes today anyways. “Now go, you’ll be late.”

“Oh, right,” Taehyun ran to the door and put his shoes on, “Bye, hyung!” He then left; leaving Seungyoon alone with a half full pot of noodles.

He sighed. He just somehow upped his title with Taehyun, but it was not the title he wanted. He did not want to be Taehyun’s little fuck buddy. No, he wanted something more; something, in which the way Taehyun talked about it, was impossible. What a way to crush his feelings…

 

Like he had thought, Seungyoon did not go to any of his classes that day. Going would have been worthless; it was not like he would be able to pay attention in any of them. The events of that morning already filled his head completely. He had agreed to be Taehyun’s fuck buddy way too quickly, and he honestly did not know why? He liked Taehyun, yes, but he knew that this was not the way to start some sort of relationship. He was pretty sure it would not work out, so why did he agree? It was not like he was desperate enough to do it. Having a crush of Taehyun for years without end did not make him desperate; they did not make him crave every single caress from Taehyun… right?

 

Weeks passed, and Taehyun had not called Seungyoon to meet up or anything. A part of him was relieved that Taehyun wanted nothing of that amount to do with him, because Seungyoon knew that that was not a way to start a relationship. But a bigger part, which Seungyoon did not want to admit about it, was sad, most likely almost depressed, that Taehyun had not called. Seungyoon was really started to think that Taehyun really was not going to call him again, and that made him more sad than relieved. Yet, three weeks after their last hook up, when Seungyoon had not quite given up yet, Taehyun called. Seungyoon had a feeling actually. The feeling was so big he decided to cram the studying he had for the big test the next day the day before, because tonight, he felt that Taehyun would call him. 

 

Taehyun was a student of the theatre arts, both musical and normal, and the next night, he had his first big function for musical theatre, and he had said for days that he was absolutely nervous about it. All his friends said that they would be there to see him, and instead of calming him down, they upped his fears. Being called the day before the big act was not a surprise for Seungyoon. He was apparently Taehyun’s stress reliever, and not being able to say no to Taehyun, Seungyoon agreed to meet him that night. He was still nervous about it, but knowing what happened on that night made him a little less nervous. 

 

That night, though, was a little different. It was not as “cute” or “soft” as the first night. Seungyoon could feel Taehyun’s nervousness and stress through every kiss. He knew Taehyun was looking for an escape of some sorts. This production was bigger than any school. Very important people who scout and look for young actors go to these productions, and Taehyun had one of the main roles (even though it was not the main role). It must have been nerve wracking for him. Seungyoon could not help but feel bad for him though, so he made it his mission to give him the best night he could.

 

That morning, Seungyoon woke up alone and not just alone in bed with Taehyun somewhere else around the house, he literally woke up alone with Taehyun nowhere to be seen. Seungyoon thought it was a little rude for Taehyun not to cook him breakfast like he did the last time or at least say goodbye, but it was not like he was going to go to Taehyun and scold him about it. So instead, he followed his usual morning routine: get up from bed, take a shower, and eat breakfast. He did not have morning classes that day, so he took his time doing everything. When he went to go eat breakfast, he found a note from Taehyun on his counter under a blueberry muffin. Reading it made Seungyoon’s heart flutter like never before and left him in a good mood the rest of the day.

 

‘This was our second time so you know what that means. 

I hope you still don’t mind. Remember all the simple rules!

Sorry I couldn’t be there when you woke up. 

I had morning practice for the play. Can’t be late for it! ☺

Bought you a blueberry muffin from the pastry shop at the corner.

They’re good. I hope you like them!

See you tonight!

-Taehyun’ 

 

Seungyoon spent the rest of his morning making sure that his outfit for that night was perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

Seungyoon met up with Jinwoo, Seunghoon, and Minho that night in front of the theatre doors. There were a lot of people coming in. Hopefully, Taehyun feels fine… Seungyoon thought.

“Wow, Seungyoon!” Seunghoon laughed as he looked at Seungyoon’s outfit, which consisted of the best of the best he owns.

Minho chuckled, “I thought we all agree to go as casual as we could, but we all look like trash compared to you.” They all laughed.

“Are you sure we could sit next to you, tonight?” Jinwoo asked with a smile.

“Yah, it’s okay if I want to dress like this,” Seungyoon pouted and looked down.

“We’re not saying anything bad,” Seunghoon put an arm around Seungyoon’s shoulders, “We’re just saying that your outfit is on point.” He laughed. “Seriously, who are you trying to impress though?” Seungyoon’s cheeks grew red, and Minho smirked when he saw it.

Jinwoo stood next to Seungyoon and elbowed him lightly on the side, “Who’s the lucky person, huh?”

“Can’t I just look good if I want to?” Seungyoon’s pout deepened.

Minho shook his head and chuckled. “Okay, boys, let’s go inside now.” He proceeded to push them all inside. 

 

As they were looking for the perfect chairs to see the whole play, they were joking around. “When Taehyun comes out, we should all just scream,” Mino said chuckling.

Seunghoon laughed, “Just be like, ‘Wooh, Taehyun fighting!’” He started waving his hands in the air.

“Taehyun, we love you! Wah!” Jinwoo followed of Seunghoon’s footsteps.

“We should all stand up and do hearts,” Minho said as he did one himself with a big smile on his face. The three of them laughed as they probably thought what Taehyun’s reaction would be if they actually did that.

Seungyoon gave them a disapproving look, “No way, let’s not do that. This is very important to Taehyun.” He was very nervous about it, too. Seungyoon did not know if what they did last night helped them in any way. Taehyun would probably still be just as nervous. If they all did that, Taehyun would probably end up having a breakdown on stage, and that was not good for scouts that were watching. 

“You’re no fun,” Minho pouted, “We were just joking around.”

“Yeah, calm down,” Seunghoon joined him, “We weren’t gonna do anything.” Jinwoo nodded.

Seungyoon rolled his eyes, “Sure, let’s just find seats.” All the others sighed and followed Seungyoon in looking for chairs.

 

Once they were seated, they waited a couple of minutes for the play to start, and then they quieted down. Taehyun did not appear for the first few scenes, but the play was pretty interesting without him. However, when he actually did come out, it was like the whole stage changed for Seungyoon. He could hear Minho and Seunghoon doing some silent ‘woos’ that were not loud enough to reach the stage as encouragement. Taehyun did not need to hear them though. He was doing great. It seemed like he was never nervous about this. He had it in the bag. Everything seemed to be on point; from his body language, to his facial expressions, to the way he said his lines. It was prefect. Seungyoon tried to hold in the big smile that threatened to come out. His heart fluttered. There was this weird charm about Taehyun. It made the whole stage revolve around him. It felt empty if Taehyun was not there. He definitely belonged in the stage.

 

When the play was finished, they all waited for Taehyun outside as they had planned. They were all talking about the play; making fun of it and praising Taehyun at the same time. Taehyun appeared half an hour later. “Sorry, I’m late!” He ran to them, panting. “I needed to freshen up a little bit and attend the last meeting. Our teacher said that scouts would be contacting them in the next couple of the days for students,” Taehyun said with a big smile on his face.

“I’m sure they’ll ask for you, Taehyun,” Minho said as he patted Taehyun’s shoulders.

“If they don’t, they’re crazy,” Jinwoo said and nodded.

“Thanks, guys,” Taehyun smiled at them in gratitude.

“You did amazing job, Taehyun,” Seungyoon said sincerely.

Taehyun turned to him and smiled. “Thanks, hyung,” He said before turning back. Seungyoon did not know why, but Taehyun turning like that and dismissing him so quickly hurt him more than it should. It should not hurt him at all. Taehyun did not have to tell him anything else. What was he expecting? A hug and a kiss? That would not happen. They were friends and nothing more. Seungyoon had to always remind himself that.

“Yeah, you did better than I thought you would,” Seunghoon said.

“What? You thought I was going to suck?” Taehyun raised a brow at him.

“No, no,” Seunghoon shook his head vigorously, “It’s just that once while I was walking to class I saw you practicing your lines and you were stuttering and forgetting them. I thought that was going to happen in the actual play because it wasn’t too long ago.”

“You guys have no hope on me sometimes, I swear,” Taehyun shook his head and pouted. “Got a got a little help beforehand.” Seungyoon could swear Taehyun briefly glanced at him.

“That’s good then,” Seunghoon smiled and nodded.

“Yup,” Minho stepped forward and put an arm around Taehyun’s shoulders, pulling him closer. While looking into Taehyun’s eyes, he asked, “Now where does our actor want to eat? Our treat.” 

“Uhhh…” Taehyun didn’t know how to answer. He just stared back at Minho. 

Seungyoon felt a pang of jealousy. “There’s a pretty good restaurant not too far from here,” He said bluntly, interrupting Minho and Taehyun’s moment, “We can go there. I’ll drive.”

“Yes, that’d be great,” Minho smiled and let go of Taehyun, but Taehyun stayed still.

“S-Sure,” Taehyun muttered and looked down. He took a deep breath and looked up, with a smile, “Let’s go!”

 

The sitting arrangement at the restaurant made Seungyoon mad. It was a circular table; Jinwoo was sitting next to Seungyoon, Minho next to Jinwoo, Taehyun next to Minho, and Seunghoon next to Taehyun. It made Seungyoon mad that Taehyun was not sitting next to him, and it really should not make him mad. It was not like they were going to secretly hold hands under the table or play footsies. They did not have that type of relationship. No matter how much Seungyoon wanted it; he was pretty sure Taehyun did not and would never look at him that way. Seungyoon sighed. “This is so difficult,” He muttered to himself. The place was loud enough for anyone to hear him. After that, he cleared his throat and decided to focus on the conversation his friends were having.

“No, but seriously, Taehyun,” Minho laughed, “if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll leave us all behind. You’re seriously that talented.”

“I can’t believe you could be leaving before your hyung,” Jinwoo said with a smile.

Taehyun smiled and looked down embarrassed, “Thank you, guys, but nothing’s for certain yet. My teacher told me that scouts might start getting interested in me, but not interested enough to call her about me, and I’m fine with that.”

“That’s bullshit,” Minho shook his head, “They really should call you right now. They shouldn’t have left that theatre without asking about you. I know I wouldn’t have.”

“Thanks…” Taehyun muttered and slightly blushed. Seungyoon frowned at the sight of it. Taehyun should not be blushing at a compliment from Minho. He never did that when Seungyoon complemented him. Why Minho? Why not him? Seungyoon took his glass of water and gulped it down. Why is he having these thoughts now? He never had them in the past. He choked and started coughing.

“Wow, are you okay, man?” Seunghoon asked worryingly and patted his back.

“Yeah,” Seungyoon coughed a little more and nodded slowly, “just have a lot in my mind.” He involuntarily looked up at Taehyun, who was giving him a worried look, too. 

“Well don’t stress too much about,” Seunghoon kept patting his back. “If it’s anything too bad, you can always come to us.” The rest nodded, but Seungyoon thought about Taehyun’s probable method of problem solving. It made him gulp.

“Yeah, okay,” Seungyoon nodded again, “Thanks.”

“Good,” Seunghoon nodded and stopped patting him. The rest of the night continued without incident. They all talked, ate, drank, and joked around. Seungyoon mostly spent it looking at Taehyun’s close interactions with not only Minho, but his other hyungs. Was he always this close to them? Seungyoon had never noticed. He was suddenly slightly relieved with not being able to sit next to Taehyun. He would have probably acted like the jealous boyfriend he was not towards Taehyun. It would have probably made Taehyun really uncomfortable and made his secret feelings for the younger boy very noticeable. Seungyoon really did not want that. Instead, he tried his best to seem like nothing was wrong and enjoy the night with his friends. Once done, he drove all of them to their dorms and then went to his small apartment, which he had inherited from his grandmother, who moved in with his mother.

 

As the days passed, Seungyoon could not get that thought of jealousy out of his mind. He could not get the image of Taehyun interacting too closely with the other hyungs. It made Seungyoon’s blood boil faintly. He hated it. He hated this feeling of jealousy, especially when he should not have it. Taehyun was not his. Taehyun was not anybody’s, and he would let you know that in a heartbeat. Seungyoon did not have the right to feel jealous, but he just could not help it! He could not stand the thought of Taehyun being with someone other than him now. These two pleasure encounters had really changed him… and maybe for the worse…

 

About a week passed and Seungyoon was still fighting his unnecessary feelings. They were making him so frustrated. There were times when he wanted to call up Taehyun so he could release all that pent-up frustration, but had decided against it. Doing it with Taehyun would probably make it worse, but yet… there was always that small high he felt when he was with Taehyun. A small high that made him forget about everything, and right now, that was just what he needed. He could deal with the consequences later, but now… Now, he wanted Taehyun so, so badly. At least he could also feel like Taehyun belonged to only him during those moments.

 

Without much hesitation, Seungyoon grabbed his phone and rang up Taehyun. “Come on, come on, answer,” He muttered to himself impatiently.

“Hello~?” The other line asked.

“Taehyun! Could we possibly ha-?” Seungyoon stopped at that moment. That voice on the other line didn’t sound like Taehyun at all. He checked his screen to make sure he had the right number.

“Seungyoon, how nice of you to call!” The other person said happily.

“Minho hyung?” Seungyoon raised a brow. 

“Yup,” Minho said and probably nodded. “I’m with Taehyun right now, so you’re going to have to borrow him later. He’s in a position where he can’t really move.” He said that last line quite like if it was threat, like he was not talking to Seungyoon and just to Taehyun. Those suspicions were confirmed when he heard Taehyun nervously laugh in the background.

“In a position, what?” Seungyoon muttered in confusion. What the hell were these two doing? He felt the pang of jealousy in chest again.

“Here, I’ll put him on the phone for you. I can hold it for him,” Minho said and walked to Taehyun and put him on the phone.

“Hello, Seungyoon?” Taehyun asked once he was on the phone. His voice sounded slightly unstable.

“Taehyun…” Seungyoon sighed.

“What’s up?” Taehyun asked simply.

Seungyoon gulped a little. His neediness was suddenly not as strong, and he did not know how to go through this, “Oh, I was just wondering if…”

“Oh, that,” Taehyun chuckled quite awkwardly. “Sorry, hyung, but I’m kind of busy these next few days. Minho hyung has an art show in two weeks, and he wants to get one last piece in before the deadline at the end of the week. Me and Jinwoo are helping him.” A small and happy ‘hello’ could be heard in the background, courtesy of Jinwoo.

“Oh, is that so…” Seungyoon said, slightly disappointed.

“Minho hyung says it’s going to be epic. I can’t wait to see the final product,” Taehyun said with enthusiasm. Seungyoon could hear Minho chuckling in the background. He tried to ignore how he suddenly hated Minho for taking Taehyun away and hummed to say he was listening. “Anyway, maybe later, after we’re done?”

“Um… sure…” Seungyoon suddenly sounded bored and sad.

Taehyun did not seem to notice as he was preoccupied with other stuff, “Good, now I’ll have to leave. We’re in a really tight schedule and can’t lose another minute. Goodbye, hyung!” 

“Bye…” Seungyoon sighed and hanged up. He looked at it for a couple of seconds before throwing in at the other side of the couch and glaring at it. What is wrong with him? Are his feelings taking over him? No, that cannot be happening. Seungyoon had always been a collected man and goofy only when the time was correct. He was not one to get overrun by emotions. It was childish. Seungyoon pouted. He still really wanted Taehyun, and now he had to wait a couple of days to see him because of Minho. Stupid Minho… Seungyoon thought childishly. Of course though, just like he had promised, Taehyun called around a week later to make up for not being able to be there when Seungyoon needed him. Seungyoon of course agreed to meet him without hesitation at all, because even for just one night, Seungyoon wanted to feel like Taehyun was only his.

 

By the course of the week, they actually met a lot; probably more than they should, but Seungyoon could not help but call him every other day to meet up. Taehyun showed no signs of being hesitant. He agreed every time. That made Seungyoon really happy. If Taehyun was not bothered by being with Seungyoon so much, then that could mean that Taehyun might harbour some feelings of more than just friends. That was Seungyoon’s train of thought. It was especially fuelled by the nights when they were not tired enough to fall asleep quickly. Those nights, they would talk and goof around; sometimes in the bare. They had really gotten comfortable in each other’s presence. Being this close and this comfortable to Taehyun made Seungyoon so happy as it meant that in the near future, they could be something more. 

 

That Friday, after Seungyoon finished the assignments the professors had given, he happily took out his phone to call Taehyun. A big smile was on his face as he knew exactly what to say to Taehyun. It didn’t make uncomfortable or nervous anymore, and it was miracle he got to this level so fast. “Hello?” Taehyun whispered when he answered. Seungyoon could tell he was in a crowded place by all the people talking around him. 

“Hello, Taehyun? Where are you?” Seungyoon tilted his head.

“In the art exhibition at the university,” Taehyun answered just as quietly.

Seungyoon furrowed his brows, “Why?”

“With Minho hyung,” Taehyun said. “He has exhibition here, so he invited me to come. Plus the painting we did all last week. I still haven’t seen the final product.” He sounded excited over that.

Seungyoon pouted, “Oh, so not today…” 

Taehyun already knew what he was talking about, “Oh wow, hyung, you’re so needy.” He chuckled and then quietly whispered, “Never knew you were so sex-crazed. Calm down, please. I’m not always up to it.”

“Oh, um… sorry,” Seungyoon looked down, embarrassed. It was not that he was needy or craving sex. That was insulting. He just really wanted to see Taehyun.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Taehyun said softly. Suddenly someone started speaking with a microphone in the background. “Oh, they’re about to announce the competing pieces for the competition. Ours is one of them. Ooh, I hope we win,” Taehyun said suddenly like a child. Seungyoon chuckled at it. Taehyun was so cute at times. “Sorry, hyung, but I have to go. We’re not really supposed to have phones out, and I must hear what they’re going to say. Talk to you later, bye!” He hung up.

Seungyoon sighed. “Good night… fighting…” He said quietly before slowly putting his phone down. Seungyoon was still hurt by Taehyun calling him needy and sex-crazed. Seungyoon never thought Taehyun would see him like that. Then again, he never really thought of anything while seeing Taehyun. He did agree with Taehyun though. He needed to calm down. Seungyoon did call him almost every day of this week, and Taehyun complied to all the meetings with little reluctance. What was he thinking? Seungyoon slammed his head against the desk. Taehyun was a human being. He had things to do. He was not there for Seungyoon’s pleasure only. Seungyoon could not believe he almost forgot that. “I really do need to lay off…” He muttered before calling it a night and heading to bed.

 

That Sunday, Seungyoon was talking to Jinwoo about some school things through when Seungyoon decided to talk about the exhibition last Friday. Sure, Taehyun only said that he was with Minho, but Seungyoon guessed that Jinwoo was there too as he was part of the painting. That was what Seungyoon had hoped for at least. Taehyun and Minho alone made Seungyoon jealous for some reason. “Hey Jinwoo hyung, how was the exhibition?” Seungyoon asked.

“Exhibition? What exhibition?” Jinwoo asked, confused.

“T-The art exhibition? Last Friday?” Seungyoon pouted, “You were there, right?”

Jinwoo stayed quiet. “Ah, Minho’s art exhibition!” He was suddenly overcome with realisation, “No, I didn’t go.”

“What?” Seungyoon asked.

“I didn’t go,” Jinwoo repeated calmly, “Minho didn’t really invite me, though he said I was welcomed to come, but I heard it went pretty well. We didn’t win, but we got fourth place out of seventeenth. Good job, Minho! I actually spent the whole night with Seunghoon. We were watching scary movies. Oh, they were so scary. I didn’t sleep. I’m still tired.” He sighed, “Huh, someone’s calling me. Wait a sec, Seungyoon.” Seungyoon nodded and stayed put. “It’s Seunghoon calling. Mind if I put him in the same line as ours?”

“No,” Seungyoon shook his head.

“Okay, give me another sec,” Jinwoo said.

A couple of seconds passed and then Seunghoon could be heard, “Hello?”

“Hey,” Seungyoon answered, slightly enthusiastically. 

“Seungyoon!” Seunghoon said with enthusiasm, “so good to hear you.”

“Hey, Seunghoon!” Jinwoo cut in. “We were just talking about the scary movie night and Minho’s art exhibition.”

“Oh, yeah… those movies were pretty scary,” Seunghoon muttered.

“They were terrifying! I was dying!” Jinwoo whined and Seungyoon could just see him pouting. Seunghoon laughed loudly.

“You know, I really thought you would be at the exhibition since you were part of the painting,” Seungyoon tried to change the subject to what he wanted to talk about.

Jinwoo scoffed, “I wasn’t only part of the painting. I was pretty much the whole painting. Minho should have invited me. Taehyun only helped with some minor props and body painting and parts and whatever. Yes, they painted on my body first and then on canvas. Throughout the whole thing, those two talked more to each other more than to me. I felt like a third wheel around them. I wanted to bail out by the third day,” He sighed, “but I couldn’t do that to Minho.”

“Psh, those two have something going on at times, I swear,” Seunghoon sighed, too. “And Taehyun was part of the painting, too. I think you’re just focusing on yourself too much.” He teased.

“I was pretty much the whole painting,” Jinwoo muttered as if he was a child. 

Seungyoon pouted, “What?”

“I was pretty much the whole painting,” Jinwoo repeated innocently. 

“No, no,” Seungyoon shook his head. “About what Seunghoon hyung said, what?”

“What? Don’t you see those two? Oh, my goodness,” Seunghoon laughed dryly. “Wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up together.” Seungyoon furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t like that idea one bit.

“Now, Hoonie,” Jinwoo chuckled nervously, “I don’t really think they would end up together.”

“Why not?” Seunghoon asked.

“On Minho’s side, it wouldn’t be too surprising, but it would on Taehyun’s side,” Jinwoo said. 

“Why?” Seungyoon asked suddenly, even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“I mean, we’ve never seen Taehyun on a serious relationship,” Jinwoo said.

“True that,” Seunghoon agreed, “He doesn’t seem apt enough to be in a long relationship with the same person.” 

“Yep,” Jinwoo agreed.

“That kid,” Seunghoon sighed tenderly, “He still has a lot to learn to be in a relationship like that.”

“Yup,” Jinwoo agreed again, “Like, stop messing with people’s hearts.” He chuckled a bit.

“He used to do that a lot, didn’t he?” Seunghoon muttered, “But I really haven’t seen him do that lately… He must be learning.”

“Someone must be teaching him,” Jinwoo said in relieve.

“Yeah, and I think we know who that someone is,” Seunghoon said and they both laughed. Seungyoon decided to ignore that comment and blast out the person they were all probably thinking about. He could not help but want to think that that person was him; even if it was too soon to tell. They have been hooking up for almost two months now. That time could change someone, who knows?

Jinwoo laughed, “Anyway, why did you call me?”

“Oh yeah,” Seunghoon had said after a couple of seconds of silence because he himself had probably forgotten why he had called. “My group has a performance in a month. I wanted to tell everyone so you could all go. If the show fares well enough, we might go perform it in other places,” He said the last part with excitement. “Our choreographer divided parts of the song to the whole group to choreograph and teach. My part is so cool. Can’t wait for what I come up with, and I can’t wait for how all the different choreographed parts will come together. It’s gonna be difficult though, but fun.”

“You can do, Hoonie!” Jinwoo said encouragingly, “Fighting!” Seungyoon nodded in agreement, even though Seunghoon couldn’t see him.

“Thanks,” Seunghoon said happily. After that, they kept talking about stupid things for some time. It was rather interesting at some points, but Seungyoon could not remember half of it. His mind was occupied with Taehyun. That boy had always been trouble, but lately not as much. That was a good thing for Seungyoon. He had stopped messing around with people for a while now, and that made Seungyoon happy that maybe that might become permanent. Taehyun might start wanting a longer relationship. Taehyun might start wanting a longer relationship with him.

 

Over the last two weeks, Seungyoon and Taehyun met up twice; both because of Taehyun. On the first night, Taehyun seemed distressed during sex. It was weird; kind of hard to explain, but he was really quiet and fast, not playful and slow. It worried Seungyoon. Whenever he tried to do something to cheer Taehyun up, he got shut down. Taehyun avoided it him basically. Overall, it wasn’t really a good experience. The next morning, Seungyoon had woken up alone, and there was no note written by Taehyun either. It was as if the night before never happened. It saddened Seungyoon. The second night was around one week after the other night had happened; Taehyun had call in a much happier mood. He apologised for being how he was and that it was just that he had too much stuff in his head, but it was all cleared now. He offered to do it that night, and to be honest, Seungyoon could never say no to him. That night Taehyun was his usual self, and it was fun for Seungyoon. Taehyun’s kisses were intoxicating and addicting to him. Seungyoon wondered if it was the same for Taehyun. He certainly hoped so. 

 

One day, Seungyoon’s classes had finished earlier than usual, since the teacher from his last class had a family emergency and cancelled the class. Because of that, Seungyoon decided to meet Taehyun outside of the younger’s classroom, since his last class ended not long after Seungyoon. He walked from his side of the campus to Taehyun’s as Seungyoon was really the only one of his friends that wasn’t doing something related to the arts. Taehyun was theatre, Minho was art, Jinwoo was acting, and Seunghoon was dance. Seungyoon was the only one that decided something more technical. Something that would get him a steady job quickly that pays a lot. He had always wanted to become a singer, but his mother had been going through financial struggles for a really long time, and he wanted to help her out quickly. He decided that maybe becoming a singer might be too unstable of a job right now with so many amazing bands out there. He thought it would not affect him as much as it really does, but luckily he did had a small job at a restaurant; playing the guitar and singing whenever he was needed. Maybe some scout might decide to eat dinner there while he was playing. Maybe he would get discovered. It would not matter though. That was a one in a million chance, and besides, he liked computers…

 

Seungyoon shook those thoughts away as he got closed to the building Taehyun was in. Students were coming out of it. A class must have ended. Maybe it was Taehyun’s class. Seungyoon looked around the crowd of students to see if he could spot Taehyun. After a couple of seconds, he did. Taehyun was saying goodbye to some people. Seungyoon walked up to him when Taehyun turn around and saw him. Dang it… I wanted to surprise him, Seungyoon thought and sighed.

“Oh, hello. What are you doing here, Seungyoon hyung?” Taehyun asked as he walked towards the older one.

“Oh, nothing…” Seungyoon looked around, trying to act cool, “I was in the area and decided, why not? Let’s go meet Taehyun.”

Taehyun laughed, “Sure, whatever you say…” He rolled his eyes. Seungyoon smiled and started walking, motioning Taehyun to follow him. They walked side by side in silence for a couple of minutes. “So, why did you come visit me?” Taehyun asked after they were getting closer to the dorms of the university.

“What? Can’t I visit a friend every once in awhile?” Seungyoon looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, you can. It’s just that…” Taehyun looked down.

“Yeah,” Seungyoon nodded. He knew how Taehyun was going to end that sentence. It was not needed. It wasn’t really surprising that Taehyun would think that. All the last times they have met alone was to have sex. That wasn’t really what Seungyoon had in mind when he went to see Taehyun today, but if they did end up doing that, he would not really mind. Still, he kind of wanted to just hang out with Taehyun today and not have sex. It had been awhile since they had just hanged out. Seungyoon looked up, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Taehyun nodded, “Indeed.”

Seungyoon looked at Taehyun, “Do you wanna do something?”

“Let me think…” Taehyun looked down. He started humming and after a couple of seconds, he looked up to Seungyoon and said, “Let me drop my things off at my dorm, and I’ll tell you then.” He smiled and showed Seungyoon the books he was holding.

“Sure,” Seungyoon said and followed Taehyun to his dorm.

 

For some reason, Taehyun’s dorm was not as Seungyoon expected. In reality, he did not know what to expect as he had never been in Taehyun’s dorm before, but he sure did not expect art things everywhere. Taehyun did theatre, not art, and he shared the room with nobody, so it sure was not a roommate. “Wow,” Seungyoon muttered as he looked around. There was an unused bed, covered with plastic that was covered in paint splatters and various papers with sketches on it. Next to the bed was an easel that was facing the other bed. Pinned on the wall were various sketches varying from goofy and stupid to magnificent and breathtaking and some paintings. Most were of Taehyun and some were of beautiful sceneries. “What is this?” Seungyoon said as he looked around.

Taehyun laughed as he set his stuff down, “It shouldn’t be that hard.”

Seungyoon walked to the sketch that caught his attention the most. It was on the wall next to Taehyun’s bed, by the window. It was of Taehyun sketched from above. He was looking up and smiling while wearing a flower crown. He was surrounded by flowers and holding what seemed to be a bouquet of roses, too. It was a simple sketch, too; nothing too fancy. One could see all the erase marks caused by the errors. It wasn’t even that proportional. Heck, Seungyoon would have thought that the drawing was not done if it wasn’t hanged up. It looked more like an outline than anything else, but Seungyoon did not know of art, so he was not one to judge. It still looked beautiful. Taehyun was drawn to look as attractive as ever. Seungyoon could not hide the smile on his face. “Nice…” He nodded and muttered, “beautiful really.”

“Honestly, my favourite,” Taehyun suddenly appeared next to him. It scared Seungyoon a bit. “He didn’t like it at all and wanted to get rid of it. Then start all over again.” Taehyun had a smile of his face as remembered everything, “But I loved it. I wanted to keep it. He had no choice but to give it to me, and when I moved in, I hanged it right here.”

Seungyoon looked down on the drawing to see who drew it. He already had a feeling on who it was. The style was very familiar.

 

Mino

 

Of course… Seungyoon though slightly bitterly. Minho’s signature… There was that jealousy there. “Minho hyung, huh?”

“Of course, who else? Pshh,” Taehyun rolled his eyes and turned around. “Minho hyung doesn’t really like the art studio. All the students go there and are loud and messy and he cannot apparently concentrate. So I said I would share half of this room with him. This is his own little art studio.” Taehyun smiled.

Seungyoon raised a brow, “So Minho spends a lot of time here, huh?”

“Almost every day, why?” Taehyun looked at him.

Seungyoon shook his head, “No reason…” The jealousy was growing inside of him greatly. 

“I don’t mind,” Taehyun looked at the bed filled with art supplies, “We don’t really get in each other’s way.” He then went to arrange some papers that were on top of his dresser.

“Yeah,” Seungyoon said bluntly and almost sarcastically. That would explain all the sketches of Taehyun on the wall, He thought with some slight anger. He was sure all Minho drew was Taehyun, because in most of the sketches, Taehyun was lying on his bed, looking at his phone, and having no idea he was being sketched. They were probably drawn using the easel. Seungyoon tried to swallow all the jealousy in his mouth.

“You know, I can’t really think of anywhere I wanna go,” Taehyun said while arranging papers. “I don’t know if I wanna go anywhere.”

Seungyoon suddenly did not really want to go anywhere either. He wanted to release all the sudden jealousy, and he knew an easy way how. He really did not want to have sex today, but if it led to that, he would not mind. “Well, I know something we can do,” He said. His tone of voice changed suddenly. 

Taehyun put all the paper down and turned to Seungyoon. He noticed the elder’s change of tone. “I thought you did not want to today,” He said and raised a brow.

“I don’t mind if it leads to that,” Seungyoon said and walked to Taehyun. 

Taehyun rolled his eyes and shook his head, chuckling. “I suddenly think this was your plan all along,” He stood in front of Seungyoon.

“Think what you want. It really wasn’t,” Seungyoon said and leaned in to kiss Taehyun. Hanging out with Taehyun could wait another day but not his heart, not his feelings, not the way he felt about Taehyun. He would rather have sex with Taehyun than just hang out with him right now, because having sex was a form of pretend to him. He could pretend Taehyun also liked him back, also had strong feelings for him. He could pretend that this affair was not just about sex. He could pretend Taehyun was his. 

“Sure,” Taehyun chuckled and kissed him back. He rested his hands Seungyoon’s cheeks and pushed him backwards. Seungyoon followed Taehyun’s steps and walked backwards until he fell on the bed. Taehyun then decided to get on top of him and wrap his legs around Seungyoon’s waist. Seungyoon did not honestly know what to think about what was going on, and he honestly did not want or need to. He kept kissing Taehyun and put his hands under Taehyun’s shirt.

 

As the seconds passed, the makeup session turned more intense. Seungyoon’s hands were all over Taehyun’s back, and Taehyun’s hands were all over Seungyoon’s hair. Just when he thought they were going to lose themselves, there was a strong knock on the door. Taehyun quickly pushed Seungyoon away and looked at the door with scared eyes. His breathing was strong as he was trying to catch it again. The knocking happened a second time before someone started speaking, “Hello? Taehyunie? It’s Minho! I know I came earlier than usual, but my professor let us out early. Also, I forgot the key in my dorm…” 

Seungyoon’s face fell. Why now? Why Minho? He thought bitterly. He looked at Taehyun to see what the younger would do and saw him calm down. His eyes looked relieved. “Oh, thank goodness,” He whispered.

“I know you’re in there,” Minho said and knocked again. “Your classes ended early today.”

Taehyun shook his head and rolled his eyes, “I’m coming!” He got off of Seungyoon and went to door. All the warmth Seungyoon felt with Taehyun on him was gone, and he felt very cold. Before opening the door, Taehyun turned around and whispered to Seungyoon with threatening eyes, “We did nothing!” Seungyoon nodded and straighten up and tried to look as normal as possible. Taehyun nodded and took a deep breath before opening the door. 

“Ah, Taehyun!” Mino said loudly before entering the dorm with his arm around Taehyun’s shoulder. Seungyoon had a strong desire to smack that arm away from him.

“Yeah, Minho hyung?” Taehyun looked at Minho, not bothering removing Mino’s hand from his shoulder. That really irked Seungyoon. 

“I need your help,” Minho smiled and then looked around the dorm, which made him notice Seungyoon. “Oh, Seungyoon, how are you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m good,” Seungyoon nodded.

Taehyun looked at Minho, “He was helping me bring some books up.”

“Okay,” Mino nodded. “I need your help.”

“What?” Taehyun looked at him.

Mino let go of Taehyun and stood in front of him like an excited child, “Seunghoon hyung begged and begged and begged.” He could barely contain his excitement. 

“And?” Taehyun said curiously. 

“They allowed me to be the ‘main’ designer,” Seungyoon could tell Minho was close to letting out the most girly squeal ever, “They’re doing something with body paint and they allowed me and some other art students to help.” There it was, the girly squeal Seungyoon foretold. Minho squealed excitedly while jumping up and down.

Taehyun grabbed Minho’s shoulders and pushed down on him. “Really?” He said in surprise. 

“Of course,” Minho nodded, “Why would I lie about this?”

Taehyun smiled, “That’s great, Minho hyung.”

“I know. I want your help,” Minho smiled widely and grabbed Taehyun’s hands. 

Seungyoon glared at Minho’s hands holding Taehyun’s. Was he allowed to do that? Seungyoon looked up at Taehyun. The younger was looking at his hands with a surprised look and tinted cheeks. That clearly meant that Minho was not allowed to do that. “But why would you need Taehyun’s help? He’s no artist.”

“At the contrary, dear friend,” Minho pulled Taehyun closed and wrapped an arm around him again. “Taehyun is a bigger artist than even me probably.” He looked at Taehyun, and Taehyun looked away, pretending to not be listening. “He just has problems putting anything on paper.” Taehyun scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“Still, he’s an actor,” Seungyoon said. 

“So?” Minho almost looked insulted, “Who says acting is not an art? Who says an actor cannot be an artist?” Seungyoon did not really have a comeback for that, and Taehyun nodded in agreement. Minho nodded for he knew he had won and turned back to Taehyun. “If this goes well, we can get out of the university for a couple of weeks.”

“That sounds great,” Taehyun said, “but I don’t know if they would allow me to go…” Seungyoon was trying really hard to hide his smirk.

“We can work something out. I’m sure,” Minho smiled. 

Taehyun nodded, “I guess…”

Minho gave a toothy smiled and then said, “I have the music they’re using for the dance, but we’re not allowed to see the dance. They want to paint the song’s feeling I guess.”

“Ah…” Taehyun nodded. Seungyoon pouted. Why did Minho have to take all of Taehyun’s attention?

“Let’s get started,” Minho took out his phone.

“Okay, but…” Taehyun slowly turned to Seungyoon.

Seungyoon sighed and stood up from the bed. “I understand. I’ll be leaving now.”

“No, that’s not what I wanted to say,” Taehyun walked up to him.

“No, it’s okay. You have stuff to do. I’ll call you later or something,” Seungyoon scratched the back of his head and looked around the room. He really was not in the mood to do anything anymore. His mood soured at Minho’s arrival. 

“Okay,” Taehyun stepped back. 

“Bye,” Seungyoon started to walk away and without sparing Minho a glance, he said, “Bye to you too, hyung.”

“Bye…?” Minho said softly. As Seungyoon walked out of the dorm, he heard Minho ask if he was okay. If Seungyoon had the chance to answer, he would have answered that no, he wasn’t okay, and that he would be okay only if Minho got as far away from Taehyun as the Earth was from the sun, or as far away as Pluto was from the sun.


	3. Chapter 3

When Seungyoon was in a bad mood, he wrote music to feel better. It was a small little hobby he had developed during high school, but nothing that was too special. None of the songs were good. All of his friends said they were and that they had potential, but Seungyoon did not believe them; they were probably lying to make him feel better. The moment he got out of Taehyun’s dorm, he went straight to his small apartment. He took out a pencil, a notebook, and his guitar, and then he started writing; all his sad feelings, all his angry feelings, all his longing feelings, et cetera. Just as he was half done with the song, he received a call from his job. They wanted him to sing tomorrow as one of their other singers cancelled on them, and Seungyoon happily accepted. He then continued to work on the song agitatedly. He had a good feeling about it. He rarely had that feeling, so he wanted to make sure it was good for tomorrow. He did not expect to stay awake the whole night though. 

 

Then next morning, after five cups of coffee, two energy drinks, and a finished song, he was ready to tackle the day. He finished all of his classes with only one problem, he could not concentrate in any of them, and then he went home straight away to practice the song. The night came quickly, and Seungyoon drove to the restaurant. In backstage, he chugged another energy drink and made sure he was not missing anything. This was the first time he was performing his own song. Seungyoon suddenly thought of what would happen if Taehyun was there to cheer him own. His face got completely red as he thought of Taehyun smiling, clinging onto him, and saying “fighting!” every once in awhile. It would just be awkward. Plus, the song was about Taehyun, and shouldn’t Seungyoon be mad at Taehyun right now?

 

At nine o’clock, the act before him ended, and Seungyoon went out on stage. The only thing Seungyoon could hear was his heartbeat, not the chatter of people that were not even aware he was standing on stage. Seungyoon took a deep breath and went to where the microphone was. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath before he started strumming his guitar. He started to sing the song as best as he could, but he knew he had made some mistakes here and there. He was not a professional singer after all, and he was nervous. Still, he slowly caught a lot of people’s attention, and by the end of the song, a big part of the restaurant had been paying attention to him and cheered loudly when he was done. When the song was done, he received a standing ovation and cheers. It was the first time they had ever done that. Seungyoon felt so accomplished. He smiled widely and thanked the crowd with a bow. 

 

Backstage, everyone was congratulating him and asking him about the song he sang. Seungyoon gladly answered all the questions asked with a slight smugness. Never had he felt this happy. He became the centre of everyone’s attention. Seungyoon wondered if this was what it felt to be famous. He really like the attention; maybe even craved it. Seungyoon loved this little job, and he suddenly regrets not choosing the idol life he could have probably easily gotten. Seungyoon sighed and after five or ten minutes if everyone still doting on him, he excused himself to pack up and go home. 

 

When he finished packing his guitar, a man tapped him on the shoulder. Seungyoon turned around and looked at the man up and down and asked, “Um… Hello? What can I do for you?”  
“Hello, I’m Mr Kim,” The man, Mr Kim, stretched his hand out for Seungyoon to shake it, which the latter did. “I work for an entertainment business back at Seoul, and I must say that I really like sure song.”   
Seungyoon gulped, “Y-Yes?”  
“I want to buy it,” Mr Kim said.  
“W-What?” Seungyoon’s eyes widened.  
“You heard me,” The man said, “How about 700,000 won?”  
“S-Seven?” Seungyoon couldn’t believe it. His song was being bought. “It was that good?”  
“Yes,” Mr Kim took out his checkbook. “I’m sure it could become really famous.”  
What about me? Seungyoon wanted to ask so badly. I am good enough to be famous. Can I get discovered? “Um…”  
Mr Kim looked up at Seungyoon and snickered. It was a slow snicker; almost malevolent. Mr Kim gave Seungyoon a bad feeling now. “Sorry, kid. You’re good, but I don’t scout people.”  
“Oh, okay…” Seungyoon looked down, embarrassed. He was so easily read sometimes. Either that or Mr Kim had been through this a lot. Seungyoon gulped and looked up, “You know, I think I want to keep the song.” Seungyoon didn’t trust Mr Kim.  
“Oh,” Mr Kim raised a brow and scratched what was written on the pay check and wrote down a new number. “How about 800,000?” He was trying to hide a smirk.  
A noise that did not need to come out came out of Seungyoon’s mouth. 800,000? That could really help his family a lot. Seungyoon felt like he needed to take the offer. It was too tempting, too good. Seungyoon swallowed heavily and nodded, “Sure, I’ll take your offer.”   
Mr Kim smirked and nodded, “Good choice, kid.” He ripped out the check and gave it to Seungyoon. Seungyoon accepted it with some hesitation. He still had a bad feeling. After that, he gave Mr Kim the lyrics and music sheets. Seungyoon had no other copies of the songs. After a handshake and a bow, Mr Kim walked away and left Seungyoon with a bad taste in his mouth. 

 

That night, after he got home, Seungyoon called his mother and told her about the money. She almost popped his ear because of how loud she screamed of happiness. After a long talk with her since they have not seen each other since school started, Seungyoon was tempted to call Taehyun and tell him, but he just could not yet. Besides, Taehyun was probably hanging out with Minho (even though it was a little past midnight). Seungyoon shook his head and growled in frustration. There was no need to be thinking of Taehyun; especially when he probably never thought of Seungyoon. Seungyoon decided it was better to focused on getting ready for bed. He did not have to think of Taehyun. So he focused on getting ready, his body failing from exhaustion, and the moment his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

 

The next day, Seungyoon called all his friends to have dinner that night at the same restaurant they had gone to after Taehyun’s play. It had okay priced good food, so everyone liked it. Seungyoon had made sure he got to sit next to Taehyun, which he did happily. Sadly, he forgot about the other chair next to Taehyun, and Minho gladly took that one. Not only that, but Taehyun decided it was better to pay Minho more attention, much to Seungyoon’s dismay. Jinwoo sat next to Minho, and Seunghoon in between Seungyoon and Jinwoo. Even though the sitting arrangement was better than last time, it still did not separate Minho and Taehyun. Seungyoon hated it. He was not going to show it though. It would be bad if he showed it. Instead, he acted happily and joyful as he told everyone about the 800,000 won he made with a song he had written. A song he was forgetting how to play or sing, as he did not have the music to it anymore, or the rights probably. That disappointed everyone at the table. The moment Seungyoon locked into Taehyun’s disappointed eyes, he all of a sudden wished he remembered how. Minho and Seunghoon had teasingly asked if Seungyoon was going to pay for their food with that money to which Seungyoon responded with a big hell to the fuck no. After they ordered their food and it came to them, the table fell silent as everyone basically devoured their food. It almost seemed as if they had not eaten in months. 

 

After a while, Seunghoon quickly looked up with wide eyes, “Oh, my goodness…”  
“What?” Jinwoo looked at him with a raised brow. “Something wrong, Hoonie?”   
“My show,” Seunghoon said as he slowly faced Jinwoo. “It’s in around a week.”  
“Oh, yeah,” Taehyun said as he put his fork down. Seungyoon had noticed Taehyun was eating with his left hand even though he was a righty. His right hand fell uselessly on the other side of Taehyun. Seungyoon had the big urge to ask, but he felt that seeing a righty eating with their left hand was something weird to notice. He definitely had observed Taehyun too much.  
“Our design is going great,” Minho smiled and put a hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. “I’m so glad they let him do this.” He looked at Taehyun, and the latter looked back and smiled. After that, Minho’s hand slowly slid down until it fell to the side, just like Seungyoon prayed it would.  
“It better be, or else something will happen to you,” Seunghoon threatened weakly.  
Minho laughed, “Sure.” They continued eating what was left, and when Minho finished, he asked, “If we do well, how long will we be gone?”  
“Um…” Seunghoon started thinking. “We’ll be back around Christmas.”  
“Aw, dang it,” Taehyun pouted, “I won’t be able to be in the Christmas production.” It was a cute pout. It made Seungyoon’s heart flutter.  
Minho chuckled, “Don’t worry.” It was Seungyoon’s turn to pout. Don’t worry? Taehyun loves performing and it’s your fault he won’t be able to perform this time. Shut the fuck up, Minho hyung. All this things Seungyoon wanted to say to the older. “All you have to do the month we are on tour is research a famous play writer and perform a scene from the most famous play they had written. You’ll at least be able to perform something.”  
Taehyun nodded, “I guess you’re right.” Seungyoon wanted to scoff right then and there. For some reason, everything Minho did or said irritated Seungyoon to no end now.   
“Wow, you guys will be gone for a long time,” Jinwoo said, slightly sad.   
Seunghoon chuckled, “Yeah, I know.”   
“You guys will leave me all alone,” Jinwoo pouted cutely.   
“Aw, poor you,” Minho snickered and pinched Jinwoo’s cheek.  
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere you know,” Seungyoon said to Jinwoo, slightly offended.  
“Yeah, I know. It’s still going to be lonely without everyone else here,” Jinwoo smiled as best as he could; Minho was not done pinching his cheek. “And can you stop that, please,” He said and glared at Minho.  
Minho was unaffected by it, “Sorry.” He pinched Jinwoo’s cheek a little harder before letting it go and patting it softly as he had left it red. Of course, part of that redness was because of the blush that ran all over Jinwoo’s face. It was a well-known fact that Jinwoo used to have a huge crush on Minho. He said he was over it, but his actions sometimes begged to differ. Seungyoon hoped that Jinwoo still had some sort of crush on Minho and that Minho would someday reciprocate those feelings. He honestly wished that to come true so badly now.   
“Aish…” Jinwoo looked down, acting like he was mad, which everyone knew he was incapable of being. Everyone sitting around the table chuckled.  
Seunghoon wrapped an arm around Jinwoo’s shoulders, “I’m sure you’ll be fine, Jinwoo hyung.” He smiled and pressed Jinwoo close to him for half-a-second in a friendly manner.   
“I’m sure…” Jinwoo nodded and looked at Seungyoon, “Be sure to hang out with me a lot these next couple of months, okay?” He almost sounded demanding. It was cute.   
Seungyoon smiled and looked down. “Okay,” He chuckled, a smile never leaving his face.  
“You know it’s only if the show does well, Jinwoo hyung,” Taehyun said, poking what was left of his food.  
“Oh, but you guys will do well,” Jinwoo leaned in and nodded, “Hoonie has shown me parts of what he has prepared and it’s so good.” He smiled.  
Both Minho and Taehyun glared at Seunghoon, “Yah!”  
“We’re the ones helping you with this, and you don’t show us anything,” Taehyun said, sassiness spilling out in every word, “but you go and show Jinwoo hyung?” Minho nodded aggressively in agreement.   
Seunghoon scratched the back of his neck and gulped, “Well you know how Jinwoo is when he begs?”  
Minho and Taehyun calmed down and leaned back on their chairs. “True,” Minho said.  
“Thank you,” Seunghoon let out a sigh.  
“I’m done,” Taehyun said after a few seconds had passed. He leaned forward and started looking for his wallet in the pockets of his pants and hoody. His eyes widened as he could not find it, “What?”   
“What’s wrong?” Minho leaned towards Taehyun in concern.  
“Yeah?” Seungyoon did the exact same thing. If Taehyun needed help in some form, Seungyoon was going to give it to him before Minho could.  
“I can’t find my wallet,” Taehyun said, looking straight and not at either of them, “I think I left it at my dorm. Oh, what am I going to do?”  
“Here,” Minho took out his wallet and handed Taehyun money, “I’ll pay for it.”  
“No, hyung, it’s fine,” Seungyoon said as he took out his own wallet and handed money to Taehyun, “I’ll do it.”  
Taehyun looked at both of them really confused, “Um…”  
“No, Seungyoon, it’s okay,” Minho shook his head, “I can do it.”  
Seungyoon narrowed his eyes, “Please, I insist.”  
“So do I,” Minho did the same.  
“Guys, it’s okay,” Taehyun said as he looked at both hands that had money on them. “Maybe if I just… and I could pay you back la-”  
“Rock, paper, scissors,” Minho brought his free hand out front.  
“It’s on!” Seungyoon mirrored his actions.  
“What the-?” Taehyun looked at both older males as if they had gone crazy. Somewhere in the background, one could hear Seunghoon and Jinwoo burst out in laughter.   
“Rock, Paper, Scissor, Go!” They both yelled at the same time. Minho got paper; Seungyoon got rock.   
They looked at each other. “Best two out of three,” Seungyoon said. He was determined to win.  
“Let’s go,” Minho smirked. Competitiveness could be seen in his eyes. “Any words from our special and lovely maknae?” Minho asked.  
“Fuck you,” Taehyun crossed his arms, totally not happy with the competition over him.  
“Mmm… Maybe later, but I was thinking something along the lines of ‘fighting!’” Minho bit his lip. Seunghoon once again busted out laughing. Seungyoon scowled. What was that supposed to mean?  
“Aish,” Taehyun leaned and rolled his eyes dramatically, “Fighting then!”  
“Great, I feel like I can win this now,” Minho smirked.  
“It goes for the both of you. Not just you, Minho hyung,” Taehyun said.   
Seungyoon smiled at that, “Okay, let’s go!” They yelled rock, paper, scissors again. Minho got scissors; Seungyoon got paper.  
“Too easy,” Minho chuckled.  
“Get your shit together, Seungyoon!” Seunghoon said loudly.  
“It’s not over yet, two more games,” Seungyoon gulped. They did the chant again. Minho got scissors again, and Seungyoon got rock. “Ha!” Seungyoon smirked.  
“Don’t get too cocky,” Minho looked at him. “One more.”  
“Why are you guys even doing this?” Taehyun sighed. He was ignored. Seungyoon and Minho chanted again. It was really loud. Some people even turned to their table. Seungyoon had closed his eyes. He was nervous. When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he was scissors; Minho was rock.  
“Ha! Ha!” Minho fist pumped. He put a hand on Taehyun’s shoulders, but Taehyun shook it off with a face of annoyance.   
“You could’ve just shared, you know?” Taehyun mumbled.  
“Nah, too much work,” Minho wrapped around Taehyun’s shoulders and called for the waiter to bring them their check.  
“It’s okay, Taehyun,” Seungyoon said, “Maybe next time.”  
Taehyun shook his head, “No, not next time. I’m not forgetting my wallet again.”   
Seungyoon laughed, “Alright then, Taehyun.” After that little spectacle, the five of them spoke some more and then paid their separated bills. Minho, with much smugness, paid for Taehyun’s. Then, after speaking a little more, they all decided to say their goodbyes. “Hey, Taehyun?” Seungyoon grabbed the younger’s wrist to make him turn around once they were all outside.   
“Yes?” Taehyun asked.  
“I was wondering…” Seungyoon scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat, “I wondering if you would like for me to give a ride to the dorms.”  
“Ah…” Taehyun smiled, “That’s okay. Minho already offered to walk me home.”  
Seungyoon pouted. Why was Minho always one step ahead of him? “Ah, come one. Minho already paid for you! He’s going to walk you home, too?” He asked, slightly irritated.  
Taehyun raised his hands, “Calm down, hyung. You’re right. I’ll go speak to Minho hyung right now. Wait a minute, okay?” He started to walk in Minho’s direction.  
“Really? That easy?” Seungyoon raised a brow. “Huh,” He smiled, “I should do it more often then.”  
After a few minutes of Seungyoon waiting on the side and Taehyun talking with Minho and also Seunghoon and Jinwoo, Taehyun came back, “I’m free to go. Minho hyung said it was okay and that he’ll just watch a movie with Seunghoon hyung and Jinwoo hyung.”  
“Okay, then let’s go,” Seungyoon nodded and they waved the others goodbye one last time before heading to Seungyoon’s car.

 

The first minutes of the car ride were quiet. Then Taehyun decided to turn on the radio. A song they both liked was playing, and happily, both of them started singing along, goofily. It didn’t sound bad. They just weren’t trying to sound good. Seungyoon was supposed to keep his eyes on the road, especially since it was so dark, but he couldn’t help but steal glances of Taehyun. He looked so natural singing… so beautiful… A smile crept onto Seungyoon’s lips. He really liked this kid. Taehyun would sometimes catch him staring, and he would playfully hit him in the shoulder and tell him to keep his eyes on the road. Seungyoon chuckled as he did what he was told. In no time, they made it to the university dorms. 

 

Both of them got out of the car. “I can go by myself, you know?” Taehyun said as he closed the door.  
“I still want to accompany you. Is that such a problem?” Seungyoon asked. Taehyun opened his mouth and instantly closed it. Seungyoon started walking, “Come on.” Taehyun followed him with no words. “You’re a really good singer, you know?” Seungyoon said after they walked a minute or so.  
“Thank you,” Taehyun looked down, a smile on his face. “Not as good as you, though,” He then said, looking at Seungyoon. “You really should have tried becoming an idol. You would have made it big. I would’ve been your number one fan. We would’ve been…” Taehyun looked down again.  
“Ah, stop that,” Seungyoon scratched the back of his neck and looked up. He smiled and looked at Taehyun, “If you would’ve been my number one fan, why don’t you come see me at the restaurant?”  
Taehyun looked at him like he was crazy, “And pay that much money? You work there. You should know how expensive that place is. Hell no, not going there.”  
Seungyoon laughed. It slightly hurt hearing Taehyun say that, but he couldn’t blame him. That place was expensive. “Yeah, okay, whatever… you should still come with me sometime.”  
Taehyun scoffed, “How? I can only come if I pay.”  
At that moment, Seungyoon took a step forward and blocked Taehyun from moving forward. “Come sing with me,” He said boldly, yet quietly.  
Taehyun was in shock, “W-What? How?”   
“They told they have a space for me to sing next Thursday. If I call and ask if a friend can sing with me and they said yes, would you do it?” Seungyoon asked with the same confidence.   
“Aish…” Taehyun looked away and ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know. Minho hyung and I are pretty busy with Seunghoon…”  
“Please?” Seungyoon relaxed his shoulder, which were tense the whole time Seungyoon was asking, “That can’t possibly take the whole afternoon. Plus, we need to hang out more. I’ve said it before.” He gave Taehyun the most puppy eye look he could muster.   
Taehyun looked away again and gulped, “I guess I could adjust… if it’s possible!”   
Seungyoon grinned like an idiot, “That’s great! I’ll call tomorrow morning to check. I’m pretty sure they’ll say yes.”  
“Okay,” Taehyun smiled and shook his head. “But you better have everything ready,” Taehyun suddenly got really serious and Seungyoon listened well, “I’ll see if I can take some time of my schedule, but it will probably be very little. We have to start practicing by tomorrow if we want to give a good performance.”  
“Yes, yes, I know,” Seungyoon nodded and they both started walking again, “I already have a song we can both sing.”  
“That’s good,” Taehyun nodded. After that, before they knew it, they were at Taehyun’s dorm room. Taehyun opened the door and then looked at Seungyoon. “Thanks for the ride, hyung. I’ll see you tomorrow if possible.”  
“Yes,” Seungyoon smiled, “I’ll see tomorrow. Good night.” Taehyun nodded and muttered a good night before closing the door. Seungyoon sighed happily before walking away to his car. On his way there, he thought, Wow, I’m pretty sure this is the first time I was left alone with Taehyun and we didn’t end up fucking, or almost fucking.

 

The next morning, Seungyoon did as he promised and called the restaurant. After much begging, they said that he could bring a friend along. After the first wave of happiness left him, Seungyoon called Taehyun to tell them the good news. Seungyoon, forgetting that Taehyun’s classes start later than his own, called Taehyun too early, so Taehyun answered him with a groggy and annoyed, “Hello?”  
“Oh, Taehyun?” All of Seungyoon’s happiness was drained out of him. He didn’t want to disturb Taehyun. Maybe he had been too excited for this. Still, he was glad he called. Taehyun’s morning voice still sounded hot to Seungyoon. though  
“Yes, hyung?” Taehyun answered with a sigh. Seungyoon could tell Taehyun wanted to end the conversation quickly.   
“I just wanted to tell you t-that my request was accepted and t-that you’re allowed to go sing with me,” It became awkward to tell Taehyun these things all of a sudden.  
“Oh,” Taehyun suddenly started stretching. He even sounded hot stretching through the phone. Seungyoon gulped. He needed to calm down. “Okay, then I’ll talk to Minho hyung later in the day,” Taehyun said after he was done. “I’m sure he’ll be fine with it. I’ll call you later, okay?”  
“Okay,” Seungyyon nodded, a smile forming on his face.  
“Later then, bye,” Taehyun quickly said.  
“Bye,” Seungyoon hanged up, and the giddiness he once had returned. 

 

“Okay, so,” Taehyun said as he entered Seungyoon’s apartment. “Minho hyung actually wasn’t really that happy with it. Since the performance is this Friday, we only have this week left. But I was able to convince him.”  
“Really? How?” Seungyoon closed the door after Taehyun entered.   
“Convincing is my specialty. What do you take me for?” Taehyun scoffed and sat on the sofa. “Anyway, what song are we playing?”   
"This song," Seungyoon grabbed the papers from the small table on the kitchen and gave them to Taehyun.  
"Ooh, nice," Taehyun said as he looked over the music sheets. He looked up at Seungyoon and smiled, "Let's get started then."  
“Let me just get my guitar,” Seungyoon said.  
“Okay,” Taehyun nodded, and Seungyoon went to his room. “I can only give you from nine to eleven for practice. More than enough time, right?” Taehyun yelled from from the living room.  
“Hopefully,” Seungyoon yelled back and grabbed his guitar. He headed back to where Taehyun was. He sat next to the younger on the couch. “Let’s start,” Seungyoon smiled at Taehyun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still trying to learn how to use this site, so please excuse small errors. I appreciate all who have read this story, and I do hope you are interested.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time that Taehyun’s designated time for him ended, they were able to sing the whole song with minimum flaws. It was great progress. All they had to do now was perfect it and add flare to it. Nothing they could not do in the days they had left.

 

Seungyoon had hoped that he could spend time with Taehyun after practice, but once Seungyoon put his guitar down to talk to Taehyun, Taehyun was already getting up saying that he had to meet up with Seunghoon and Minho. “Both of them, one minute alone, it could destroy everything. I left them alone for two hours,” He said as he went out the door. Seungyoon let him go without telling him anything. 

 

Throughout the week, they kept practicing. Sometimes together; other times, Seungyoon would practice alone. Time was very limited, but their performance was coming up nicely. Some parts were divided, others were harmonised, and adlibs and falsettos were set. Wednesday and Thursday were straight practicing. 

 

On Wednesday and Thursday, Seungyoon and Taehyun had agreed on meeting on Taehyun’s dorm, since it was easier for Taehyun to move around campus from his dorm to where Seunghoon’s team was practicing than to move from Seungyoon’s apartment to where the team was practicing. 

 

Taehyun’s dorm was a mess. Papers with sketches and doodles were thrown around the floor. Taehyun apologised about the mess by saying it was Minho’s and his brainstorming fail ideas, and that they still have not been willing to pick them up. That explained why most of the sketches were crossed out with pen or crumpled up. Taehyun said that they already had the idea. It just had to look good on the bodies of the dancers.

 

After an hour of practicing Thursday, they rushed over to the restaurant. Taehyun’s breathing was short and quick. He was pacing around the room, muttering to himself, keeping a hand on his heart. If Seungyoon had not known better, he would have thought Taehyun had never performed in front of a crowd. “What makes you so nervous?” Seungyoon asked, trying to hide a smirk (since he can't really remember the last time he saw Taehyun so nervous) as he turned his guitar for the third time in ten minutes. He was nervous, too.  
“It's been awhile since I've performed like this,” Taehyun sat down next to Seungyoon. “Plus,” Taehyun put his head on Seungyoon’s shoulder and looked up at him, “I think this is the first time we’re performing together as a duet. I'm very exciting.” Taehyun smiled and let out a small laugh. Seungyoon smiled back and was tempted to kiss Taehyun at that very exact moment, but their relationship was not like that. Instead, Seungyoon chuckled and turned back to his guitar. 

 

They were the third performance of the night. Some regular goers recognised Seungyoon from the last time he was there and clapped at his appearance, excited for what he held today for them. They looked a little confused with Taehyun being there too, but Seungyoon gladly took the time to explain who he was. 

 

Seungyoon and Taehyun sat down on their rightful places and looked at each other for one last time before the performance. Seungyoon gave the younger a reassuring nod, and Taehyun gave him a smile. His heart fluttered, but he refused to show it since he had more important things to focus on. He looked at the crowd to make sure they were all still paying attention and started tapping his foot to keep the beat. 

 

The moment he strung his guitar was the moment he forgot he was in front of a crowd. Seungyoon liked to immerse himself in the music. No matter what he sang, he sang with passion. Seungyoon almost forgot Taehyun was there too, but Taehyun’s vocals were too sweet, too soft, too unique to keep Seungyoon alone in his trance. Taehyun sang with just as much feeling and passion as Seungyoon. His every note conveyed the message of the song, and Seungyoon could not ask for a better partner. 

 

The moment the song ended the crowd erupted in cheers and stood in ovation. This was the feeling Seungyoon loved about performing. His heart was always filled with the satisfaction of a crowd. When they asked more, Seungyoon knew he did a good job. He could not have asked for something more. He turned his head to see how Taehyun was doing, and it was beautiful.

 

Taehyun had the mic close to his heart as he waved to the crowd. His smile was wide enough to reach his ears. The focus lights shining behind Taehyun made him look like a flawless angel. Seungyoon was sure he fell in love all over again that night.

 

They deemed it a successful night and promised to split the profit once Seungyoon received it. Driving back to the college campus, Seungyoon felt like they should celebrate. Seungyoon turned to Taehyun for a second. The younger was leaning against the window, and a tiny smile rested on his lips. Seungyoon was happy to see Taehyun happy. “Did you have fun today?” Seungyoon asked and turned his eyes back to the road.   
Taehyun nodded and hummed, “It went great even if we practiced for so little time.”  
Seungyoon nodded. He wondered how he should subtly tell Taehyun that he wanted to do something tonight. “Is there something you want to do tonight?” He asked instead.  
“Can you drop me up at the theatre?” Taehyun asked.   
Seungyoon tilted his head. It was late. “Why?”   
“Seunghoon hyung’s team has been doing their last practices tonight,” Taehyun grinned and straightened up, “I have to be there.”  
Oh, yeah… Seungyoon had forgotten. Taehyun had previous commitments. Slightly disappointed, he nodded, “Sure.” Although he wanted to spend more time with Taehyun, he could not keep Taehyun away from others. “How is everything going with the performance?”  
“Everything’s going well,” Taehyun took out his phone and dialled someone’s phone number, “Better than I thought.” He put the phone on his ear.  
Seungyoon nodded, “That’s nice. I should be expecting something gre-” Taehyun cut him off by putting a finger up.  
“Hyung,” Taehyun greeted the person on the phone. “I’m on my way. Are things okay?” The person on the other line answered. Seungyoon tried to make up the voice and see if he could tell who the person. He could not. The volume of the phone was too low for him to hear. Taehyun laughed, “So what if things still have not fallen apart? I’m still not there. Anything could happen.” The person spoke again. Once again, Seungyoon tried to listen close to make out the voice. It was a deep voice. That was all he could make out. “Nope,” Taehyun shook his head, “I don’t trust you.” He then laughed. “Yeah, whatever, hyung. I’ll see you later.” Taehyun hanged up. 

 

Seungyoon did not say anything. Instead, he kept driving with his eyes on the road. In a few minutes, they were back on campus by the theater. Taehyun prepared the little things he had with him and faced Seungyoon. “Thank you for the great night,” Taehyun said gratefully, and Seungyoon honestly expected him to lean forward and give him even just a tiny kiss, but that did not happen. Taehyun simply said goodbye and left the car. Outside, he waved goodbye before walking away. All Seungyoon could really do was drive away slightly disappointed.

 

Early the next morning, Jinwoo had called Seungyoon. He sound so excited that Seungyoon had to tell him to slow down a couple of times. Apparently, with enough begging and acting cute from Jinwoo’s side, Seunghoon was finally able to get them backstage for thirty minutes the most. Jinwoo was incredibly excited to be able to see everything before the show even began, and Seungyoon was excited, too. For the past month, Taehyun and Minho had been making a big deal of that they were planning on doing, so Seungyoon wanted to know what they were so hyped about. 

 

Turned that they were only allowed to go in backstage three hours before the show even began. Everything was still in the beginning stages of being set up, and only a few of the dancers were set to perform. They were covered in body paint from head to toes. Seungyoon could barely tell where their eyes and mouths were. The dancers were not all painted the same. Groups of dancers had the same color scheme, but each pattern, swirl, and dot they had on was different. It was… abstract. Minho never focused on abstract work, so Seungyoon thought that maybe it was not only Minho that was helping out. Maybe there were more art majors lending a hand. 

 

Jinwoo asked where Seunghoon was, and one of the dancers said that he was getting his body paint done in one of the rooms. Seungyoon and Jinwoo rushed down to the room that was said. As much Seungyoon wanted to see Seunghoon, he was wanted to see Taehyun even more, but he doubted that many of the dancers would know who he was. It turned out that Seungyoon did not have to wonder. Minho and Taehyun were in the same room as Seunghoon. Minho was actually painting Seunghoon while Taehyun was painting someone. Around them were actually three more art students (as Seungyoon had predicted) helping out painting the dancers. 

 

“Hello, hello, hello!” Jinwoo entered the room with a bright smile on his face. It was so contagious that all who were in the room smiled back at him.   
Their three friends grinned. “There you guys are!” Seunghoon waved at them. He was standing up. The lower half of his body was already painted. Minho was painting around his waist. “Have you guys liked what you’ve seen?”  
Jiwoo walked up to him, “It seems like it is going to be a very interesting and beautiful show.”  
“Oh, yes,” Seunghoon nodded. He tried his hardest to stay still to help Minho focus on his work. “Everything that is being done is intentional.”  
“The paint is coming out beautifully,” Jinwoo said as he stared at one of the dancers who was receiving her final touch ups on the face.   
“Well, for that, you can thank our most important artist,” Minho pointed at Taehyun, “Nam Taehyun.” Taehyun smiled and did a mocking bow before getting back to work. “It was all his idea,” Minho explained. “That is why we needed him,” He almost seemed to tell that to only Seungyoon. Seungyoon frowned. Something about Minho irked him nowadays.   
“Well, obviously,” Seungyoon looked around, “I never saw your “color” while looking at any of the dancers.” It really was only a simple comment, but Seungyoon lowkey hoped it pushed a button inside of Minho.   
“All Taehyunie,” Minho smiled and went back to painting Seunghoon. It obviously did not push a button. 

 

The rest of the time Jinwoo and Seungyoon were allowed there was spent talking about the perks of the performance. Seunghoon still did not want to release much about it, so he instead talked about the feelings he hoped the performance conveyed to the audience. He also complained about how much his feet hurt from standing too long and that it would now be impossible to perform. Dramatic. 

 

Jinwoo and Seungyoon met up again in Jinwoo’s dorm room to get ready. By getting ready, Seungyoon meant Jinwoo using a whole basket of hair products while Seungyoon shamelessly stared at himself in the full body mirror. They decided to meet there because it was closer to the theatre that Seungyoon’s small apartment. Once they both deemed themselves better looking than most of the world’s population, they left for the theatre. 

 

Seungyoon and Jinwoo obviously had some of the best seats in the theatre: the perks of knowing a dancer and two from backstage. From their chairs, the whole stage could be seen clearly. Jinwoo talked without end about everything the performance was going to have, and it became obvious that with enough cute acting and begging, Seunghoon will tell you anything. 

 

The performance started less than an hour after Seungyoon and Jinwoo arrived. Seungyoon had tried to text Taehyun to see what the other was up to, but the younger man never answered. He had not even read it. Seungyoon was a little disappointed, but the start of the performance help Seungyoon moved that disappointment to the back of his mind. 

 

Seungyoon saw why Taehyun and Minho were so excited about this performance. It put many different values into a dance. The performers danced with so much grace that they looked like they were flying on air. Almost every department of the performing arts had a role in the performance. A story was being told; a story where everything was taken into consideration. Each line, color, and pattern on the dancers’ skins represented something. Dark color and rough, sharp patterns were used for the callous scenes while light colors with soft patterns were used for the scenes showing serenity and so on. Seungyoon could not really comprehend what exactly the story was about, if it even had a plot, but he knew that it must have been deep. After all, he looked around, and he saw people shedding tears quietly. Once the performance was over, there was a well deserved standing ovation. People whistled and clapped and shouted. Jinwoo shook his arm a couple of times shouting, “Did you see that?! Did you see that?!” Seungyoon did. 

 

It actually took some time before Jinwoo and Seungyoon were able to see Taehyun, Seunghoon, and Minho again. Taehyun had finally answered Seungyoon’s text and said that some things had to be done before they were allowed to leave, and that it would take an hour or two. Being the good friends they were, Seungyoon and Jinwoo stayed in the theater cafe eating while they waited for their friends to be dismissed. 

 

“What did you think?” It was the first thing Seunghoon said when he entered the cafe, Minho and Taehyun trailing close behind him (and staying too close for Seungyoon’s comfort). That question was Jinwoo’s queue to excitedly repeat everything he had already told Seungyoon about what he thought of the performance. Seungyoon agreed with most of it, so he simply nodded along. Taehyun, Seunghoon, and Minho all made jokes while Jinwoo gave his super passionate speech. 

 

“I overheard that the performance was more than just a success,” Taehyun said after Jinwoo was done talking. “Maybe we might actually be able to do that small tour,” Taehyun high fived Minho, who had been nodding along to what Taehyun was saying.   
Seunghoon chuckled. “Yes,” He nodded, “only the next couple of days will tell.”  
“I’m so proud of you guys,” Jinwoo smiled.   
“I say we celebrate this success,” Taehyun smirked as he leaned one arm on Seunghoon’s shoulder.   
“I like that idea,” Jinwoo smiled back. He always liked to pretend to be quite an innocent boy when in reality, he enjoyed great, wild parties. Taehyun pointed a finger at him with a playful smile on his face.   
“I’m down for that,” Minho stepped forward next to Taehyun.   
“Oh, yes,” Seunghoon nodded. He looked at Seungyoon. “Are you in?”  
Seungyoon had honestly been planning on doing his own thing. Maybe go off on his own with Taehyun in hand; pathetic scenarios that he could not stop imagining. “Sure,” He said. it had also been a while since he had last partied with the whole crew. Last time was at Jinwoo’s house before college started. 

 

Seungyoon and Jinwoo cleaned their mess off the table before everyone went to Seungyoon’s car. They decided to head to a club downtown that was popular with all the students. It had loud dance music and dark lights. The perfect place to get lost. Of course, they were not going there to get lost. Inside, they all made a beeline to the bar, guided by Jinwoo and Taehyun. They ordered shots for everyone. Seunghoon and Minho led the toast, and then everyone took their shot together. What a great way to start the night! Mostly because everything after that blended into a nothingness at the end of the night. 

 

Seungyoon woke up where he did not expect to wake up. The smell was strong of coffee, and the curtain blinds were closed. His splitting headache made him want to stay in bed all day and not get up even if the world was ending. Of course though, he had no idea where he was, so he groaned and slowly sat up. 

 

“Hey,” Seungyoon heard a groggy voice say. When he turned around he say Jinwoo and Seunghoon sitting on the other bed facing him, both drinking coffee and sharing one blanket. They both looked dead.   
Seungyoon looked around and realised he was in Jinwoo’s and Seunghoon’s shared dorm. “Wow,” Seungyoon said when he realised he could not remember how he ended up here or what even happened last night. He ran a hand through his hair, “What the hell happened last night?”  
“The hell should I know?” Seunghoon answered grumpily and drank his coffee. Jinwoo patted his arm. Seunghoon sighed, “No clue, but wow, dude.” Seunghoon started chuckling, which increased into a full blown laugh, “Taehyun is pissed at you.”  
Seungyoon blinked a couple of times. He tried to think of a reason on why Taehyun could possibly be mad at him, but his severe headache was not helping him. “Why?”  
“You punched the hell out of Minho,” Seunghoon said between laughs, but then those laughs were reduced to pained moans because of his own headache.  
“Yeah, what the hell, Yoonie?” Jinwoo asked as he looked at Seunghoon.   
Seungyoon stared at them. He had punched Minho. He had punched Minho. “Why did I do that?” Sure, Minho was getting on his nerves recently, but that did not mean he wanted to punch him.  
“I have no clue,” Seunghoon pointed at Jinwoo and himself. “We were hammered.”  
“Not only that,” Jinwoo shook his head, “I am sure those brownies we were offered had something else in them.” He chuckled.  
Seunghoon chuckled back while looking at Jinwoo, “Oh, definitely.” They both stared at each other for a few more seconds before looking away and starting to drink their coffees as if nothing had happened. “Anyways, I think you really should apologise to them,” Seunghoon informed Seungyoon.  
Seungyoon knew he had to, sure, but he really did not want to. He almost felt no regrets for punching Minho. He would not apologise if it was not because of Taehyun also being mad at him. “Okay, I will do it,” He slowly laid back down, “after I am actually able to function in society again.”  
“Understandable,” Jinwoo nodded.  
“Yeah,” Seunghoon agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Seungyoon stood in front of Taehyun’s dorm. The sun was close to setting, and he was well enough to talk to both Taehyun and Minho without being too grumpy. Seungyoon did not have access to Taehyun’s dorm, so he had to knock on the door. It took a few seconds before Taehyun answered the door. “Oh, hyung,” Taehyun said. He did not sound angry, but he did not sould welcoming either. 

“Taehyun,” Seungyoon said back. He sighed. “I have something to say to both you and Minho hyung.” Taehyun nodded and stepped aside to let Seungyoon enter. Seungyoon nodded back and entered the room with his hands in his pockets. Once passed the small hallway that lead from the main door to where the beds where, Seungyoon saw Minho lying in Taehyun’s bed with his drawing pad and a pencil in hand. He was staring directly at Seungyoon with a smile almost like the Mona Lisa’s: serious, but still smiling. Seungyoon also noticed that he had indeed punched Minho. Discolored bruises were forming pattern on Minho’s right cheek. Seungyoon would actually feel bad for him, but he could not help but feel with a little bit of pride. After all, Minho was too close to Taehyun, and Seungyoon really did not like it. Seeing Minho casually lying in Taehyun’s bed made Seungyoon’s hands ball into fists. 

“I just wanted to say that I am sorry for punching you in the face, Minho hyung,” Seungyoon gave a bow, all to seem as sincere as possible. Minho placed his pad besides him and stood up from the bed. He walked up to Seungyoon and placed a hand on the younger man.  
“Apology accepted,” Minho grinned.  
Seungyoon straightened up, “Really?” He honestly expected Minho or Taehyun to say something about it not being enough.  
Minho nodded, “We were drunk as fuck, and then those brownies…” Minho looked lost in thought for a second. Seungyoon thought that anymore time like that, and Minho would start drooling. “Anyways,” Minho shook his head, “We were out of it. I probably said something that set you off. I am sorry.”  
“Oh…” Seungyoon was dumbfounded with the mini speech. From the corner of his eye though, he could see Taehyun was a proud smile on his face.  
“Come on. Let’s hug it out,” Minho smiled and brought Seungyoon in for a hug. Since it was so unexpected, Seungyoon awkwardly hugged him back. That was when Minho said something that made Seungyoon’s blood run cold. “Just to be clear, I will absolutely do the opposite of what you asked me to do,” He whispered quietly enough for Taehyun not to hear before pulling away with the same cheerful smile. Seungyoon looked at him with wide eyes but did not ask any questions. He was scared to know the answers to the questions he had. Plus, Taehyun was here, and Seungyoon did not want to reveal any secrets at all.  
“Well, it’s nice for there to be no hard feelings between you two,” Taehyun stepped forward. He looked at Seungyoon. “Minho was just showing art outlines he was working on.”  
“Oh,” Seungyoon looked at both of them. “That’s great. I actually have to leave…” He pointed at the door, “I have some other things to do.” He could not stand being another second in the same room as Minho.  
Taehyun nodded and let out a disappointing hum, “I’ll lead you out then.” He wrapped an arm around Seungyoon’s shoulders and let him out the door. “I’ll call you later,” Taehyun whispered as he headed out the door. Seungyoon knew what that sentence meant, and it relieved him. He thought that after punching Minho, Taehyun would want nothing to do with him, but he guessed he was wrong. Good. Now it seemed that having Taehyun as a fuck buddy was being one step ahead from Song Minho. 

“I will be honest with you,” Taehyun mixed the tea in his small cup with a small spoon. “I was so pissed at you. I did not even want to talk to you again.” 

Seungyoon was currently in the kitchen. Taehyun had called today, four days after he had last seen him when he apologised to Minho. Taehyun called for the very reason he called 99.4% of the time, and Seungyoon was happy to agree. After sex, Taehyun had settled on the couch to watch television and Seungyoon went to the kitchen to prepare him tea. Seungyoon did not know what to think of the situation. Taehyun called way earlier than he normally did. Normally, he called at night, and they fell asleep together afterwards. Taeyun would either be gone by the time Seungyoon woke up, or he would leave after breakfast. They were done before the sun was even down, so Seungyoon invited Taehyun to sit down in the couch and each dinner with him. Seungyoon had ordered a pizza, which still had not arrived. Taehyun had not bothered putting on clothes, but because the day was chilly, Seungyoon offered him a wool blanket. Taehyun was currently sitting on his couch wrapped in only a blanket. It was making Seungyoon’s head spin around. 

“But Minho hyung was right. I can’t blame for something you can’t remember,” Taehyun took a sip of his tea. “I mean,” He eyed Seungyoon, “You can’t remember anything, right?”

The only visions Seungyoon received from the last night they all got drunk together are visions of flashes of light and music and bodies grinding against each other. Well, that and Jinwoo being dared to chug down a whole yard of pure vodka. Seungyoon was not sure how that man was not dead from alcohol poisoning. He also vaguely remembered pushing Minho to the floor, but that was it.

Seungyoon shook his head, “No.” He had been washing dishes in the kitchen. Once he finished, he went and sat down next to Taehyun. It was strange. Because he did not want to feel overdressed next to Taehyun, Seungyoon was only wearing a pair of jeans. His skin already yearned for Taehyun’s. It wanted to be on top of Taehyun, but the last thing Seungyoon wanted was for the pizza man to find them in a compromising position. Yes, that was his excuse.  
“Exactly,” Taehyun pointed at Seungyoon and smiled, “So I can’t be mad at you.” Seungyoon nodded, and Taehyun looked back at the television and kept drinking the tea. After some time, Taehyun broke the silence again. “You know, Seunghoon hyung called me before I called you. We made it.” He looked at Seungyoon. There was a smile on his face, a huge one. “We were successful.”  
Seungyoon blinked a couple of times. He had not received the news. Seunghoon had not personally called him to tell him the news. Maybe Seunghoon revealed it to the group chat. After Taehyun had called him, his phone started blowing up with messages from the group chat he had with Taehyun, Jinwoo, Seunghoon, and Minho. Seungyoon had not cared to check it since he was more excited over Taehyun coming here. “Oh,” It was all that came out of Seungyoon’s mouth.  
“We’re leaving in a week. I’m not quite sure where we are going yet though,” Taehyun looked down and knitted his eyebrows together.  
Seungyoon was not sure how to react. Taehyun was going to leave with Minho. Seunghoon, too, but Minho. He really did not want Minho to be near Taehyun. Seungyoon did not care that he was burning with jealousy, that he could not claim Taehyun because no one could. Minho had no right to seem closer to Taehyun than Seungyoon was to him. Seungyoon was seething. He took a deep breath. Hiding your strongest emotions was not easy, but Seungyoon was almost an expert in it. “I’m happy for you,” He said with a smile, fake, forced.  
“As am I,” Taehyun grinned. “This is a great opportunity.” Seungyoon wanted to ask how. Taehyun was still simply majoring in acting. Seungyoon was not sure how traveling around with the dance crew and a couple of art majors was great for him, but the doorbell signaling that the pizza delivery guy was arrived rang. “Go get that. I’m hungry,” Taehyun moved around on his spot with anticipation.

“Argh,” Jinwoo was being dramatic again. “What am I supposed to do now? My best friend is leaving me!” He fanned himself with his hand.  
“I’m still here,” Seungyoon glared at him.  
“I know, but you’re not him,” Jinwoo pouted and looked at Seunghoon.  
Seunghoon chuckled and ran a hand through Jinwoo’s hair, “It’s only a couple of weeks, but I’ll miss you, too.”

They were standing by the entrance of the bus that was going to take Taehyun away with Minho by his side. All last week Seungyoon was regretting not becoming a major in some liberal arts major just so he could find an excuse to leave with Taehyun. Everything was set. Everyone was just waiting for the group of five inseparable friends to say their goodbyes. 

“Jinwoo hyung is just mad that he won't get to see his boy toy in a couple of weeks. Don’t worry, hyung. We’ll be back before you know it,” Minho opened his mouth. Seungyoon now rarely listened to what Minho was saying. He must have said something that made Jinwoo glare at him.  
“Someone is obviously not over me telling Jinwoo everything about the performance,” Seunghoon rolled his eyes. Minho and Taehyun nodded at the same time in agreement.  
Jinwoo shook his head and addressed Minho’s earlier statement, chuckling, “I hope so.” He stepped forward and hugged Minho for the upteenth time. He then hugged Seunghoon, too. He let go and pointed at him. “I expect a status report everyday, Lee Seunghoon.”  
“Yes, hyung,” Seunghoon jokingly saluted the oldest hyung. Jinwoo smiled and finished his hugging session by giving one to Taehyun. Seungyoon had already hugged all the them, even Minho, goodbye. He did not feel like doing it again, so he just waved goodbye. Taehyun started walking into the bus, followed by Minho, who, in his worst accent, tried to imitate the famous “I’ll be back” line. Seungyoon wanted to gag. The last one to enter the bus was Seunghoon, and when he finally did, the doors closed behind him. 

That was it. Seungyoon could not do anything about it if Minho sat a little too close to Taehyun, which made his blood boil, because through the window, Seungyoon saw that Minho sat on the seat right next to Taehyun. What a bastard…

Life continued to be, in a way, normal. Seungyoon went to his classes, stressed out over essays and tests, and practiced his music. The only thing that was different was that there were no more weekly or bi-weekly hangouts with all of his friends. It was just Jinwoo and Seungyoon, and thought they had fun, Jinwoo never failed to let known that he missed the other three. Seungyoon missed them, too, especially Taehyun. Was he succeeding in what he had to do for the performance? Was he enjoying his time and having fun? Learning? Was Minho near him? Was Minho always near him?

The only other way than direct communication that Seungyoon and Jinwoo were able to keep tabs on the other three was with social media sites. Through these sites, Seungyoon and Jinwoo saw glimpses of the performances. They also saw how the other three would go to clubs and bars together with other students. They looked like they were having fun. Jinwoo would express his jealousy every time. Seungyoon would not express it, but he would feel it. He did not like the way Minho wrapped an arm around Taehyun in almost every picture or video. 

Dammit, he knew it would happen.

Seungyoon knew he would get jealous. He knew he would get possessive over Taehyun, but at the time, he did not care. Now, he was facing the consequences. It was stupid. He did not understand why he was jealous. Back when he was in high school, Seungyoon used to have a girlfriend. She was a beautiful, kind woman, and Seungyoon was had been happy that have her for the time he did. Guys were always flirting with her, nonstop, even when Seungyoon was right next to her. Seungyoon never worried about it. He was never jealous or possessive, because he knew she was his. Heck, he was the one who broke up with her in the long run when he realised that his feelings for Taehyun were more than he had first thought. So why was he jealous and possessive when it came to Taehyun?

Seungyoon tried his best to put all that jealousy behind him by hanging out with Jinwoo as often as he could. Seungyoon even took over Seunghoon’s spot in “Jinwoo and Seunghoon’s Horror Movie Night” for those weeks Seunghoon was gone. Jinwoo held on to Seungyoon’s arm during all the movies they watched. He squirmed and whimpered in all the horror scenes and jumped in all the jumpscares. Seungyoon did not really get scared by horror films. So every time Jinwoo got scared, he would chuckled and look at the older man. Jinwoo was cute. He was the cutest one out of all of them. He would say that he tried to act tough around Seungyoon, because unlike Seunghoon, he did not get scared of horror films. He always failed. Having Jinwoo cling onto Seungyoon was great and all, but Seungyoon could not help but replace Jinwoo with Taehyun. Though Taehyun liked to have that facade of a tough and careless badboy, anything horror and supernatural scared him to death. Seungyoon always wanted to protect the younger male when he was scared. 

One day, while Jinwoo and Seungyoon were doing some homework in one of the campus’ parks, Jinwoo received a call from Seunghoon, one of those daily status reports. They talked for endless minutes, and Seungyoon ignored their conversation to the best on his ability. That was until the pleasant look in Jinwoo’s face changed to confusion. “What do you mean? You think something happened between them?” Seungyoon lifted his head when he heard what Jinwoo said. “Are you sure? I mean, they could be talking when you are not around.” Seungyoon was sure they are Minho and Taehyun. Seungyoon did not know who else Jinwoo and Seunghoon would gossip about. Though they did love to gossip about people. Jinwoo nodded, “Oh, damn. I guess then” He looked up at Seungyoon, “I gotta go. Talk to you later, bye.” He hung up.  
“What? What’s going on?” Seungyoon tried to act casually, but he was dying to know what was going on.  
Jinwoo shrugged and grabbed his pencil, “I don’t know. There seems to be tension between Minho and Taehyun or something.” He sighed and shook his head before continuing his work. 

Seungyoon kept staring at Jinwoo. This could have been considered the best news he had heard in his life. If there was really tension between Taehyun and Minho, then that meant that they would not be as close as they used to be. Seungyoon could swoop in and take whatever spot Minho had in Taehyun’s life. Seungyoon smile and happily kept working on his work. 

Seungyoon was excited when the day Taehyun would return in arrived. It was three weeks before the final exams. Enough time for Taehyun to catch up on what he could have missed. Though Seungyoon knew he kept in touch with classmates that told him what happened his classes. He was probably more excited than he really should be. Even Jinwoo was not as excited as he was was, and Jinwoo is normally the more excited one out of the two of them, too. 

Seungyoon was just curious on how distant Taehyun and Minho really dare. Where they as distant as Jiwoo said Seunghoon told him? If they were, Seungyoon was elated. Not that he would show it on the outside. He did not want to be known as a heartless fellow happy that his friends were not as close as he used to be, though that was exactly what he was. 

Jinwoo and Seungyoon were waiting exactly where Seunghoon said the bus was going to arrive. Jinwoo had received a text from Seunghoon saying that they had just entered campus. Jinwoo was now giddy with excitement. He missed Seunghoon. They spent almost any time that they were not in class together. He missed that closeness with Seunghoon. Seungyoon also missed the closeness he had with Taehyun, though not in the same sense at all. 

When the bus arrived, many of the students that Jinwoo and Seungyoon did not care for came out first. Seunghoon, Taehyun, and Minho had all decided that it would have been the best idea to sit completely in the back. Seungyoon could understand them though. They had come from a city that was three hours away. 

When Taehyun got out of the bus, he did something that was completely unexpected for Seungyoon. He walked up to Seungyoon and gave him a big hug while saying, “Seungyoon hyung, I missed you!” It stunned Seungyoon. He did hug Taehyun back because it was rare for Taehyun to even initiate a hug.  
Seungyoon hugged Taehyun tighter and said, “I missed you, too,” when he saw that Minho was staring at them (more specifically Taehyun) with a frown in his face. What could have possibly happened?  
Taehyun let him go. “Can you help me with my luggage?” He asked while he grabbed Seungyoon’s wrists and dragged him to the part of the bus where the luggage was being held.  
Minho must have overheard that request because he touched Taehyun’s shoulder and said, “I can help you, too.”  
Taehyun shook his head, never staring directly at Minho, “No, it’s not much this time. You should worry about your own.” He did not sound as confident as he normally would have.  
“Are you su-?” Seunghoon interrupted Minho’s question and pulled him back all the while greeting Seungyoon and asking him how it was going. Seungyoon could barely give an answer before Seunghoon dragged Minho away. Taehyun let out a breath before focusing on his luggage again and not saying a word. That was when Seungyoon realised that something serious must have happened, and it was starting to worry him. 

“So…” Seungyoon looked at the pillow in his hands, “Did anything interesting happened during the trip?”  
“What do you mean?” Taehyun was currently putting away all the clothes from his luggage. “Nothing that I have already not told you through phone calls.”  
“Oh well, you know,” Seungyoon was not sure how he was going to get what happened between Minho and Taehyun out of Taehyun, but if it was bothering Taehyun so much (since he had not been himself since he arrived), then Seungyoon wanted to find a way to help. “You just seem off. Did anything happen…” Seungyoon put the pillow down and raised his hands as if he did not know the answer to what he was going to ask, “with anyone?”  
Taehyun stopped what he was doing and looked at Seungyoon. He was looking at Seungyoon, almost as if he was trying to answer a question he did not ask. ‘How much do you know?’ perhaps? Seungyoon looked away, still trying to seem clueless. Taehyun sighed and walked up to Seungyoon. Seugyoon, who had been sitting down on Taehyun’s bed, stood up automatically. “Look,” Taehyun said when he was in front of Seungyoon, “Maybe it’s the whole trip, you know? Maybe I already miss everything we did those few weeks.” He shrugged.  
Seungyoon raised a brow, “Are you sure?” He wanted to say that it was not only him but also Minho, but he did not want to push.  
Taehyun would not let him push either. The younger man ran his fingers down Seungyoon’s arm and up his side, melting Seungyoon completely. “I am perfectly fine,” Taehyun’s voice could only be described by Seungyoon as sultry.  
Seungyoon could not breathe. He hated how Taehyun could do this to him. The most simple of touches already wrapped Seungyoon around the younger’s finger. “O-Okay,” He said mindlessly.  
Taehyun retracted his hand and smile, “Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I stalled on uploading the story here, because this website frustrated me lol  
> I'll start again now. The story is done and completely uploaded in Asianfanfics, so if you wish to binge read, then be my guest.  
> A big thank you to everyone reading the story! I thank you all!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep forgetting to upload here haha

It was nice to have the whole group back together. It was almost as it was before the greater half left for the trip, except for the fact that Minho and Taehyun ignored each other like foreigners who could not even speak the same language. That worried Jinwoo and Seunghoon and, at the beginning, Seungyoon. It now seemed like Taehyun was more close to Seungyoon than he was to Minho, and that was what Seungyoon wanted from the beginning. So what if Taehyun and Minho had a falling out? Seungyoon selfishly thought that it was working to his favor, so he should not bother with it. 

 

Finals week was excruciating. Seungyoon’s new bed was his study desk. The group rarely met. Each of them had their own tests to worry about, and Minho even joked in the group chat about how his favorite breakfast became coffee bean cereal with plain black coffee as milk. Seunghoon had second that, and Seungyoon would have third it but he still had hard feelings for Minho. They were not as strong as before as Taehyun and Minho seemed to have stopped hanging out with each other completely. Taehyun even told him how Minho had moved all his art stuff to the student art studio. Whatever happened between them was serious. Taehyun came over more often. Seungyoon was still his number one stress relieving tool, and Seungyoon could sense his levels of stress were higher than Mount Everest. Even Seungyoon was not that stressed, so he thought that it could not only be the tests. But if sex helped relieve some of it though, Seungyoon was not going to ask questions. 

 

Finals week came and went and the whole group was sure they passed more that half of their tests with the bare minimum. For Jinwoo, that was a cause for celebration. Since the last times that they celebrated in a big way, something bad happened. Seungyoon suggested that they should all just go to a bar and hang out there. They all agreed to it, but Jinwoo, who was the lover of partying big, complained the whole way to the bar. One of the many conversations made in that bar was what they were planning on doing for the break they had. Jinwoo said that his parents plan to go to the house they had a town over (where the fateful before college party happened) and Jinwoo was going to spend time with them there. Seunghoon was planning on going back to his hometown, which he shared with Seungyoon, who was also going back, and Taehyun was planning on going back home, too. Minho said he was going to stay during the break. He had some pieces he wanted to spend time creating and that he would use the break to finish them. They all made fun of Minho for deciding to stay. Most students were ready to leave, so it was humorous to watch one who actually wanted to stay. 

 

Seunghoon and Seungyoon left together back to their hometown. They sat next to each other on the train and bus trips. They shared earphones and even slept on each other’s shoulders when they were tired. They were a short drive distance from each other back home, so they often visited each other. Seunghoon had great video games and often challenged Seungyoon to play them. During quite a tough game of Mortal Kombat, when Jinwoo was visiting (as he often liked to do because he was bored most of the time at home), a conversation was made that had made Seungyoon lose a game round he had betted he was going to win.

 

“Did you guys here about Minho’s new girl?” Jinwoo was sitting on Seunghoon’s bed, patiently waiting for his turn to play, when he absentmindedly asked the question.

“New girl?” Seungyoon asked. He had not heard of such a thing. He tried hard to concentrate on his game.

“Oh, yeah,” Seunghoon nodded, pressing the bottoms of his controller like his goal was to break them, “who would have thought, right?” 

Seungyoon broke his concentration from the television and looked at his hyungs. “Wait a minute, I need the full story. Minho hyung has a girlfriend?” The second it took to ask that question took away half of his life. Seunghoon cheered in triumph.

Jinwoo hummed and nodded, pointing back at the TV as in saying that Seungyoon needed to concentrate, “I mean, they are not official yet, but just give it some time. She really likes him. He… seems interested.” Jinwoo shrugged. “It’s weird though.” He layed on his stomach and moved closer, so his head could be in the middle of his two friends. 

“Yeah,” Seunghoon agreed. “I mean, we were sure Minho and Tae-”

“What happened during that trip?” Jinwoo moved closer to Seunghoon.

“No fucking clue,” Seunghoon scoffed and shook his head.

Seungyoon broke his concentration from the TV again. Seunghoon was planning on ending that Tae with hyun, and that sentence was going to end with something about Minho and Taehyun ending up together, and that was simply not possible, not true. Minho and Taehyun? No, no way! Even Taehyun and his three floors up neighbour were a more possible couple. Taehyun did not even talk to his next dorm neighbor, but still. It just could not happen. It really could just not ha-

“Yes!” Seunghoon cheered. He won. Seungyoon was left in a trance. He had forgotten he was playing. 

Jinwoo shook his shoulder, “Loser, pay up and move up!” 

Seungyoon shook the hand off, “I’ll pay later.” He handed the control to Jinwoo and crawled into Seunghoon’s bed as Jinwoo got down to play with Seunghoon. 

“Of course, you will,” Jinwoo cleared his throat and moved around. As the round started, he started chuckling. “Taehyun must be living up to his high school promise, eh?” 

“Which one?” Seunghoon asked as he tried to concentrate on the game. “The one where he promised he would not fall in love?”

“Yep,” Jinwoo nodded, “We all bet it would not happen, but he is doing pretty we- Lee Seunghoon don’t you dare go soft on me!”

“Oh, please! Last round you told me to!” Seunghoon yelled back. 

“Not this round! I can beat your ass fair and square!” Jinwoo yelled back. Their yelling became increasingly louder, but Seunghoon did not care. He suddenly became lost in thought.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so late again! Why do I always forget? I am so sorry, guys!

_The whole group was sitting around a small table on a coffee shop. The school day had just ended, and Seungyoon and Taehyun were happy that the Physics test was over and done for. Together they were with Minho, who was in his last year of high school, and Jinwoo and Seunghoon, who were freshmen at the university they all wished to go to. Every couple of months they had hang outs like this. The university was a couple of hours away from the boarding school they all attended. Jinwoo and Seunghoon could not just drive up here whenever they wanted. It was not that easy, but they were making the sacrifice to keep in contact. It was a promise._

_“It’s not going to happen,” Taehyun shook his head and slammed his fist against the table. Seungyoon grabbed his tea from the table, since Taehyun slammed his fist hard enough to spill their drinks._

_Jinwoo chuckled before asking, “Why not?” They were all currently at a cafe; a couple of blocks away from the school and right below the hotel Jinwoo and Seunghoon were staying at. Minho was sitting left to Taehyun; Jinwoo to the right; Seungyoon next to Jinwoo, and then Seunghoon in between Minho and Seungyoon._

_“It’s too- eh,” Taehyun shrugged. “I’m not going to fall in love. It’s better to just mess around, you know?”_

_“Sure, I do,” Jinwoo nodded. He did not know, but he liked to agree with Taehyun. “Most people who say that still end up falling in love.”_

_Taehyun shook his head, “It’s not going to happen to me. I can promise you that, hyung.”_

_Minho, who had been calmly drinking coffee and staring at Taehyun while the conversation went down, put his cup down and rested his hand on his fist, a smirk on his face. “You wanna bet?”_

_Taehyun looked at him with shock. Seungyoon stared at Minho, too. Such statement was completely unexpected from Minho. Jinwoo and Seunghoon looked at each other before looking at Minho, too. They were always like that. They shared their thoughts and opinions with each other first before they do with anyone else. Seunghoon was also the only one out all of them who honestly, truly, and sincerely listened to all of Jinwoo’s gossip. “Excuse me?” Taehyun raised an eyebrow and imitated the smirk Minho had._

_“You heard me,” Minho said. “You will fall in love.” He pulled Taehyun close to him and whispered something in his ear. It made Taehyun blush. Seungyoon furrowed his eyes in what that could have possibly been. Taehyun pulled away quickly and looked at Minho with wide eyes._

_Seunghoon chuckled, “Oh, boy.” He looked at Jinwoo, and Jinwoo was already looking back at him with a huge smile._

_“I know,” Jinwoo nodded and both of them snickered, once again sharing an inside joke nobody but them knew about. “Our Minho boy is stepping up.”_

_Seunghoon nodded with him, “Oh, yeah. He now plans to get him.”_

_Minho laughed, “Oh, wow, guys.” He shook his head. “You’re not wrong though.”_

_“You guys are unbelievable,” Taehyun rolled his eyes. “It’s just a joke, isn’t?”_

_Minho shook his head, “It’s not.” He placed his hand on top of Taehyun’s, “I promise.” Taehyun glared at Minho and pulled away his hand._

_“I’d like to see you try,” Taehyun dared and looked away from Minho with a ‘hmph’._

_It suddenly clicked in Seungyoon’s brain what was going on. Minho was flirting with Taehyun. That was not strange. They all flirted with Taehyun just for fun, but this one was different. There was something about it that Seungyoon did not like. It made him mad. His heart filled with jealousy. “No,” He shook his head. All his friends stared at him. “You can’t do that.” He stared directly at Minho. Minho looked back at him with a smirk adorning his face. It pissed Seungyoon off more that he was not being taken seriously. “I won’t let you do that!” He gripped the table and launched himself towards Minho._

_Seungyoon was not sure how, but the background around him changed. The noise muffled. Instead of a cafe background, lights and darkness surrounded him. Seugyoon toppled Minho and they both landed on the floor that was not of a cafe, but a dance floor. The chairs and tables were gone. Their friends were nowhere to be found. Seungyoon formed a fist and punched Minho on the face. Once, twice, thrice. He had more pent up anger than he thought. Minho was not fighting back. It would not have mattered to Seungyoon._

_“What are you doing?!” Taehyun’s sweet voice broke him out of his trace. The younger man’s hands ripping him away from Minho. Taehyun kneeled in front of a groaning Minho with worried eyes and placed his hands under Minho’s head gingerly. Jinwoo and Seunghoon stood confused next to Seungyoon. Taehyun looked back at Seungyoon, “Are you crazy?!”_

 

Seungyoon woke up. He had that dream again. It was a rather strange dream. It started with a memory from high school. Maybe the exact conversation varied a little each time, but it was still the same idea: Taehyun swearing to never fall in love, and Minho promising that he will. Seungyoon would get mad. Sometimes, as it did last night, it would merge with the memory from the last night they all partied and became wasted. Seungyoon connected the dots and realised that he probably beat Minho up for saying something about Taehyun that Seungyoon did not like. 

 

Seungyoon sighed. It would not matter anymore. Minho had no feelings for Taehyun. That lady friend Jinwoo had talked about a couple of days ago actually became Minho’s official girlfriend. They posted cute couple photos in social media, and Minho even changed the icon from his account in their group chat from a selca to a couple one. Seungyoon did not know much of that mystery girl. From Jinwoo, he heard that she was freshman art major by the name of Lee Kyungok. Jinwoo said he was unimpressed by her, but Seunghoon said that the reason was that Jinwoo was rooting for Minho and someone else. Too bad for Jinwoo, but it seemed that Minho was now uninterested on that _someone else_ , and that was the only good thing about this whole situation. 

 

Seungyoon stood up and stretched. He was back to his small apartment near his university. Classes started up again next week, and students were once again moving back to the dorms. One of those students moving back was Taehyun, who was moving back today. He had called Seungyoon yesterday asking for help to set up the dorm one he came back. Seungyoon agreed without hesitation. It was not like he really had a life anyways. Taehyun said he was due to arrive by noon, which would happen in half an hour, but Taehyun liked to be fashionably late to everything, so Seungyoon was not particularly worry. Though he was sure that if Taehyun actually arrived on time, the younger will be bitching at him until he showed up. 

 

When Taehyun called of his arrival, Seungyoon was already three minutes away. Seungyoon honestly knew Taehyun too well. Taehyun said he would call again in five minutes, but Seungyoon knew that those five minutes were really going to be two minutes as Taehyun does not have the patience to actually wait five minutes. Seungyoon spent the rest of the car drive debating whether to pick up his speed to please Taehyun or to slow down just to hear Taehyun’s sweet voice on the phone again and annoy him one more time. In the end, he made it just as Taehyun was calling him again. 

 

Seungyoon wondered why Taehyun really needed him. Seungyoon was not the strongest, so even with his help, they had the seek the aid of other students when they were bringing Taehyun’s things up to the dorm. After all, Taehyun always felt the need to bring his whole wardrobe no matter where he went. After all the boxes were brought to them dorm, Seungyoon was not allowed to help because only Taehyun knew how he liked his own stuff and did not want to risk another person who was just trying to help ruin it. That hurt. It was also very oddly specific. Who could have Taehyun so badly that he could not trust?

 

“I think this semester is going to be pretty good,” Taehyun said as he folded his clothes and placed it inside the chest of drawers. “I have better classes. Some that are way more interesting that the ones I had last semester, so maybe I will get better grades.”

“I hope I will get better grades, too,” Seungyoon said as he layed in Taehyun’s bed and looked at his phone. This semester, Seungyoon had classes that he found relatively interesting. Though, in reality, he found his whole major relatively interesting though not that much. Instead of the passion his classmates had over the subject, Seungyoon went at it with a forced sigh and a hope for better days. 

“You were always a good student, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Taehyun laid his head on the mattress since he was currently sitting on the floor. 

Seungyoon turned his head towards him and smiled, “So are you.” Taehyun smiled back softly, and Seungyoon’s heart fluttered. There was no words to explain how Taehyun made him feel.

“Thank you,” Taehyun turned back around and kept unpacking. Seungyoon watched his back. They kept quiet and Seungyoon eventually went back to looking through his phone.

“It’s so nice that I get to help you out,” Seungyoon muttered as a joke. 

“Oh, yes,” Taehyun nodded, going along with the joke, “It would take me years if it was not for you.”

Seungyoon chuckled, “Well, what are friends fo-”

 

There was a knock on the door. 

 

Seungyoon sat up and looked towards the door. It was not strange to get a knock on the door, but it was strange for there to be no voice accompanying the knock. Most students here screamed why they were knocking. Why was this one quiet? Seungyoon looked at Taehyun and saw that Taehyun was looking at the door with a frown instead of the curiosity Seungyoon had. It was almost like he knew who was at the door. Taehyun sighed and yelled, “Come in! It’s unlocked!”

 

The door opened and in entered two people. Once they came into view after walking the small hallway that separated the dorm door from the dorm itself, Seungyoon saw who they were; Minho and a small woman Seungyoon could only assume was Kyungok. Taehyun stood up with a small smile on his face. 

 

“Taehyun! It’s been so long since the last time I saw you,” Minho smiled and wrapped an arm around assumed Kyungok. Kyungok looked up at Minho with a shy smile and blushing cheeks. She wore a boyish, short, dark haircut pinned behind her ear with a pin with cherries in it. Her pencil skirt reached half her thigh, and she wore a sweater; her shoes were mary janes with socks that reached her knees. Seungyoon honestly never imagined Minho would end up with a woman like that. 

“It has,” Taehyun smiled back and nodded. “How have you been doing, hyung?” There was a lack of intimacy. Seungyoon used to be so jealous of how close Minho was to Taehyun, but now the two of them were so distance. It did not seem right at all. 

“Good,” Minho looked at Kyungok and smiled softly, “I just wanted to introduce you to my lovely lady Lee Kyungok.” 

Kyungok looked at Taehyun and bowed, “Hello.” Her voice was as soft as her features, formal too. She turned to Seungyoon and did the same thing. Minho turned to Seungyoon did a nod of acknowledgment. This conversation was obviously between Taehyun and Minho. Seungyoon had no reason to be in it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Taehyun smiled at Kyungok. Seungyoon repeated the same thing. 

“It’s nice to introduce my best girl to my best friend. I am happy that was done,” Minho looked at both Taehyun and Kyungok. 

“It was nice,” Kyungok looked at Minho with big, admiring eyes.

Minho nodded and turned his attention back to Seungyoon and Taehyun, “We just wanted to drop by. We have some other things to do.” Minho looked at Kyungok, “Let’s go.” Kyungok nodded at Minho and said her goodbyes before walking out the door. 

 

Minho also took his turn to leave but stopped in his tracks. The smile he had on his face was changed into a frown. He turned back to Taehyun, “Taehyun.” It was deep and serious. It was nothing like his tone when Kyungok was around.

Taehyun shook his head, “Go.”

Minho sighed a deep sigh, “Can we talk later?” Minho flashed his eyes at Seungyoon for a millisecond, telling Seungyoon that the reason they were not talking now was because he was in the room.

Taehyun nodded quickly, impatiently, “Yes, later. Now go.” Minho nodded back and without saying another word, left.

 

It was quiet in the room for a couple of seconds. A somber mood was left behind by that last conversation. Seungyoon had no idea how to break it. Taehyun broke the silence with a groan and then threw himself on his bed, head first. Seungyoon looked at him with wide eyes, unsure of how to react to what had just happened. Taehyun and him had just been joking less than ten minutes ago. Minho ruined that mood. Seungyoon felt that Minho ruined a lot of things for Taehyun and him. 

 

“Seungyoon hyung?” Taehyun’s voice was muffled as he was face down against his pillows.

“Yes?” Seungyoon asked tentatively. 

“I appreciate your help a lot,” Taehyun sighed, “But I think I want to be alone at the moment. Can you go home?” Seungyoon honestly wanted to ask why, comfort Taehyun, but he felt like it was not his place, not his business, so he grabbed his car keys and left through the front door. 

 

Seungyoon had to admit that there was something weird between Kyungok and Minho. Something so weird that it was Jinwoo who noticed it first, and it normally took Jinwoo a while to realise certain things. Kyungok became part of their group hangouts, but she never really socialised with anyone other than Minho. She always clung to him while listening to him speak to his friends. Minho, on the other hand, seemed to forget that Kyungok was even there. He focused all his time and energy to speaking to all his friends and Taehyun in particular. Over the past few weeks, it seemed like they were mending their seemingly once before broken relationship. Excluding that, it almost seemed like Kyungok was completely in love with Minho while Minho was simply not. If that was the truth, then why in the world was Minho with Kyungok? Jinwoo had made an infinite amount of theories of why, but like always, only Seunghoon really paid attention to them thoroughly. Seungyoon would rather not become involved. He realised this past couple of months that he might be just a bit of the jealous kind when it came to Taehyun, and he did not want to expose himself to anything that would make him release the green-eyed monster inside of him by accident.

 

The night of the day Seungyoon and Taehyun met Kyungok, Taehyun had called Seungyoon. Seungyoon had been meaning to talk to Taehyun about where their little deal stood. With this phone call, Seungyoon understood that the deal still stood unquestioned. Seungyoon also understood that night that Minho was affecting Taehyun in some way. Seungyoon made it his duty to hold Taehyun a little tighter that night as his show of comfort. 

 

Minho being close to Taehyun again did not bother Seungyoon as much as it used to bother him, because Taehyun became close with Seungyoon, too. It was not about only sex every time they it was just them. They now went to the movies, to eat, to study at the library, and all the things they would normally do with the other three. There was nothing romantic about it. It was all platonic. They were not that kind of friends with benefit. Seungyoon doubted he could even call what they were with that term; it was still only fuck buddies. That was it and nothing more. Seungyoon only hoped that, soon, it will be something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this is chapter 7, you guys must know that the next chapter is the last one. Are y'all ready??


	8. Chapter 8

One day, when the weather was finally showing that it was truly spring, Seunghoon invited the whole crew for a game of Billiard to the Death. No one really died playing that game. They did not lose a friend every time they went to play. They were not that kind of group of friends. It was really whichever group lost a round would take a couple of shots; whichever lost the most rounds would pay for all the alcohol. It was fun to see when it was not you who were facing the impending bankruptcy. 

 

In the most recent games of Billiard to the Death, Minho brought Kyungok with him. She normally stayed seated in a corner, guarding their drinks, and watched her man try to destroy everyone else at billiard and miserably fail. At times, she would go over to Minho and ask him to teach her how to play billiard, and every time she miserably failed, too. Seungyoon and Seunghoon would joke that that was the only thing, besides art, that those two had in common. Most of the time, Kyungok just faded into the background, which was why Seungyoon did not consider Minho bringing her correlating with Taehyun taking much more shots than usual every time he lost. 

 

That night though, Kyungok did not come through the door next to Minho. Jinwoo was the first one to ask about her absence. “Where is Kyungok, Minho?” He leaned forward into the billiard table as he asked. 

Minho shook his head, “We broke up.” Everyone in their group stayed quiet. They were all expecting to hear that she was probably sick. 

Jinwoo blinked a few times, “Really?” His tone was both surprised and relieved.

Minho seemed to not have noticed, “Yeah.” He shrugged, “I guessed it was not going to work out.”

“Shame,” Jinwoo really had no shame. He was vocal to everyone but Minho about his dislike for Kyungok. He had a hand over his mouth to hide his smirk. Seunghoon elbowed softly to let him know that he was obvious. 

Minho took off his jacket and set it on the table where he saw the other’s things. “I’m not that sad about it. I think she was very clingy.”

Taehyun scoffed. “No shit,” He muttered bitterly. Seungyoon was the only one who heard as he was standing next to the younger man. He smiled because he could not help but agree. 

 

In a way, Seungyoon already knew time was running out on Minho and Kyungok. He knew Minho was back to using Taehyun’s dorm as his personal art room. Every time Seungyoon visited the dorm, new sketches filled the walls. They were less of Taehyun and more of other things: abstract art, sceneries, imitations, et cetera. Seungyoon did not know much of art. Anyways, never in the walls was there a sketch of Kyungok. Seungyoon even asked Taehyun where Minho keep those sketches, if he even had them. Taehyun just said that the few ones (Taehyun emphasized few) Minho had were not put on display and kept away in a sketch pad. That was strange, because Minho was always the one to put anything he liked on display. 

 

There was a sketch pad on the art bed one day when Seungyoon was visiting. While Taehyun was doing some things on his own, Seungyoon swiftly walked towards the art pad. He did not want to shamelessly open it and see what was inside. Minho never shared the art he already did not have out. He always said it was not worthy to be shown, but Seungyoon was always curious about what the older man could possibly be hiding. There was a paper sticking out of the pad, and Seungyoon was sure he could subtly pull it. Last time he tried to pry into Minho’s stuff. Taehyun almost attacked him like a lioness did its prey. He said that anything Minho kept hidden was to be hidden, and if Taehyun was going to respect that privacy, so should everyone else. This time, since Taehyun had his earphones on, Seungyoon had a chance. He took a side of the paper and pulled it slowly. 

 

Seungyoon’s eyes were wide and he quickly put the sketch back in the pad. It was a sketch of Kyungok, made of what looked to be charcoal. It was deformed and messy and nothing like the soft, delicate, sweet sketches Minho made of Taehyun. Seungyoon had first thought that Minho was simply trying out a new style, but when he learned that Kyungok and Minho had broken up, Seungyoon realized that maybe it was something else entirely though he was not sure what exactly. 

 

Seungyoon wondered what that could mean for Minho and Taehyun. Suddenly that fear that Taehyun could be taken away from him came back. Seungyoon and Taehyun were friends and nothing more. Why was it hard to believe that Minho and Taehyun were also friends and nothing more? They behaved a similar way that Jinwoo and Seunghoon did and as far as Seungyoon was aware, they were also friends and nothing more. Seungyoon should not worry about anything. He really should not.

 

Unfortunately, it was hard to do that when Taehyun showed up dead drunk at the dead of night knocking on Seungyoon’s door. Seungyoon was in the process of writing a ginormous essay for one of his classes when he heard the knock. Seungyoon stood up grumpily and headed to the door, ready to yell to whoever was on the other side to kindly fuck off. His hard eyes softened when he saw it was Taehyun as the door though. 

 

“Taehyun,” Seungyoon said softly to not disturb the neighbours. “How did you even get here? What?”

Taehyun had one hand resting on the door frame and the other around the collar of his shirt. His eyes were hidden under his messy long hair. “Hyung,” He muttered before throwing himself on top of Seungyoon. 

“Woah,” Seungyoon took steps back and wrapped his arms around Taehyun to steady him. 

“Hyung,” Taehyun muttered again and placed his hands on Seungyoon’s shoulders without trying to push himself out of Seungyoon’s grip. 

“What?” Seungyoon asked, knowing that there was no way Taehyun would answer. “You’re drunk. Come on, I’ll lay you down on my bed. You need to rest,” Seungyoon maneuvered around Taehyun to close the front door. 

Taehyun shook his head, “No!” He pushed Seungyoon against the front door.

“What the?” Seungyoon wondered where this man mustered all that strength when he could barely stay on his two feet. Seungyoon could not ask that question, because as soon as he opened his mouth, Taehyun dove in to kiss him. It took Seungyoon completely by surprise. Under different circumstances, Seungyoon would have easily melted into the kiss, but Taehyun was drunk as fuck. There was no way Seungyoon was going to take advantage of Taehyun like that, so he pushed him off. “What are you doing?” He asked his younger friend. 

“Ah, hyung!” Taehyun complained. He grabbed Seungyoon’s hands and pulled them away from him before diving for another kiss. Seungyoon tried his best to not let it get to him, because even though he was not drunk on alcohol, Taehyun’s kisses sure made him drunk. 

 

Every time the kiss broke. Seungyoon would tell Taehyun to stop, but Taehyun never listened and Seungyoon was too unwilling to do anything about it. It was toxic, and it was suffocating Seungyoon. It got to the point where his clouded mind rationalised that as long as it did not go farther than that, it would not matter. So he ended up kissing and embracing back. 

 

Taehyun was still too drunk to barely stand, so they somehow made their way to couch, and they laid there, Seungyoon under Taehyun. Seungyoon kissed back every sloppy kiss Taehyun offered him. He tried his best to remember that that was as far as it could go. It surely took him awhile to notice Taehyun was unbuttoning Seungyoon’s shirt. Seungyoon gasped and grabbed Taehyun’s hands. He did not want to commit a giant mistake tonight. “Taehyun, no,” His mind was still cloudy, but he knew he was doing the right thing. 

 

Taehyun was quiet, still. His head hung low, so his hair covered most of his face. It only took Seungyoon a second longer to realise that tears were rolling down his delicate face. “Taehyun?” Seungyoon slowly let go of Taehyun’s hands and gently placed one on Taehyun’s cheek. “Taehyunnie, are you okay?”

Small noises came out of Taehyun’s throat, small whimpers. He shook his head. “Why?” He whispered softly.

“Why what, Taehyun?” Seungyoon softly wiped away a tear. 

Taehyun lifted one of his hands while wobbling keeping his balance on the other. He formed a fist and started hitting his chest, “Why does it hurt? In here?” He shook his head and bit his bottom lip. “It’s not supposed to hurt.” He brought his hand down and then laid down on top of Seungyoon. His head full of hair tickled Seungyoon’s neck. “It’s like someone is continuously stabbing me with each heartbeat,” Taehyun shook his head. “I don’t get it.” 

Seungyoon was stunned at the words, wide eyed. Taehyun was drunk, but his words were as clear as daylight. “Taehyun…” Taehyun did not answer. His breathing was leveled. He must have passed out already. Seungyoon sighed and wrapped his arms around the younger man, resting his chin on his hair. “I don’t think I want to know why this is happening to you…” Seungyoon’s lips formed a thin line. The angry fire inside of him ignited again, because Seungyoon could not think of anything else that would make Taehyun this big of a mess.

 

Song Minho.

 

Taehyun was gone in the morning. It was like there was no trace of him. That was normal in regular nights, but last night was not a regular night, so Seungyoon expected Taehyun to stay. He guessed he should have expected nothing less than the usual. Taehyun probably did not remember anything that happened last night, and it was probably best for him, but not for Seungyoon. No, this was Seungyoon’s curse. He was stuck with a talk only he could remember, and it was one that he wished he could unhear, because Minho was once again making him angry. The jealousy attacks were strong. 

 

Sure, Seungyoon did not have the whole story. He did not even know what was going on. Minho and Taehyun were still not as close as they used to be, so maybe what hurt Taehyun was that scarred friendship. Maybe he was the one that was making Taehyun hurt. It was not a nice thought, but Seungyoon would do anything to make himself belief that Taehyun loved him back. He sigh. He could be so pathetic sometimes. 

 

Later that day, Jinwoo had set up a study date for everyone. At one side of campus, there was a set of concrete picnic tables under a set of huge over rooted trees. It was the perfect place to study if you were alone and had sound cancelling headphones. Seungyoon was going with friends, and he was too poor to afford sound cancelling headphones. All his friends were. None of them could say no to Jinwoo though. 

 

When Seungyoon saw Taehyun sitting on that picnic table, it was as if last night never happened. He was laughing and conversing with Seunghoon and Jinwoo. He was fine. No sign of headache, no nothing. Seungyoon could almost believe last night did not happen. It did; what he felt was proof enough. The proof was also in Taehyun and Minho’s actions, or inactions. When Minho came, all the two of them did was acknowledge each other. There was no further interactions, and just like all those months ago, Seungyoon wondered what happened?

 

That question left Seungyoon’s mind some time later. The tension between Minho and Taehyun was gone, but Taehyun still paid a lot of attention to Seungyoon. Not sexually, though, after that night where Taehyun went to the apartment drunk, there have been no sexual advancements. Still, Seungyoon hanged out with Taehyun and enjoyed time alone, like watching a crappy drama on the bed and making fun of it. Seungyoon enjoyed those moments so much. He liked Taehyun so much. Every time Seungyoon saw him, he felt his heart want to run out of his chest and into Taehyun’s arms. Taehyun was in charge of his heart, and Seungyoon did not regret that. He only regretted that he was not in charge of Taehyun’s heart. 

 

Seungyoon really did want to have Taehyun’s heart, but Taehyun’s heart was like the wild horse. Always running, never settling in one place, basically impossible to catch. Seungyoon feared his rope was not long enough, not strong enough. It would break the moment it wrapped around Taehyun’s heart. Seungyoon needed to try. He needed to tell Taehyun how he felt. That he breathed for Taehyun and yearned for him. That he would do anything for Taehyun and he would never let him go. Taehyun enjoyed his company, and they have gone all the way multiple times. Taehyun could possibly like him the way Seungyoon did. Seungyoon hoped Taehyun liked him the way Seungyoon did. 

 

The fateful day came. It was a couple of weeks before death week, also known as the week of finals. Seungyoon had only heard of that week from Minho, Jinwoo, and Seunghoon. A week that was apparently so bad that it made Seunghoon consider dropping out. Seungyoon already started studying for it. Sure, Seungyoon still had classes that were still teaching content, but it was also better to start remembering things now that to wait for the last moment just so he could receive a good grade. Seungyoon was sure that nothing could distract him from receiving the best grade possible.

 

The phone rang, and Seugyoon saw that it was Taehyun. He answered. “Hey, hyung. I’m coming up there,” Taehyun urgently said. 

Seungyoon knew that urgency. He had not heard it in more than a month, and he honestly thought he was not going to hear it again. “Okay.”

 

Okay, so maybe there was one thing - _one person_ \- that could distract him from getting the best grade possible. 

 

When Seungyoon opened the door for Taehyun, Taehyun did not greet him with a “hello, how are you?” Instead, Taehyun greeted Seungyoon with a deep kiss and a wrap of the arms, and Seungyoon was completely fine with that. He missed it. He missed the deep kisses, wrapping his arms around Taehyun, and Taehyun wrapping his arms around him. He missed clumsily closing the door behind them and trying to get to the bedroom without tripping on something. He missed taking Taehyun’s clothes off, and Taehyun taking his own off. Seungyoon just missed Taehyun’s intimacy. 

 

This time, Taehyun seemed distant though. Seungyoon tried to close whatever gap needed to be closed. It was hard to know the gap considering they were doing what can be considered as the most intimate act in the book. However, Taehyun pushed him away. This almost felt like sex with a stranger, and Seungyoon had to wonder what was he doing wrong. 

 

The day was still young. The sun had not even gone down. Seungyoon laid face down hugging his pillow, completely satisfied with the actions done earlier. Taehyun laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. It has been some time since they had been like that, and no one had said a word. Words were not a necessity. Seungyoon was comfortable and content, and though he was not facing Taehyun, he was sure Taehyun was, too. 

 

“I have to tell you something, hyung,” Taehyun broke the silence. Seungyoon hummed and turned his head to face Taehyun. Taehyun was not looking at him. He was staring at the ceiling. 

Seungyoon thought about what he also had to tell Taehyun. He needed to eventually after all. He could not continue putting it off. He did not want it to be too late. “I have to tell you something, too,” he gulped. 

“Can I go first?” Taehyun asked, his voice shaking. Seungyoon hummed and nodded. Taehyun shook his head, eyes facing the ceiling, wide and never breaking away, “I can’t do this anymore.”

Seungyoon blinked, absorbing those words. “What?” He just said. 

Taehyun sat up, looking straight now. “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Seungyoon pushed himself up, “You don’t?’ Taehyun shook his head. Seungyoon wanted to ask why, what had he done wrong, was he not good enough, but Seungyoon could not do that. Taehyun was the one who formed the deal. He had the right to break it, too. 

A forced smile formed on Taehyun’s face, and he finally looked at Seungyoon. “I’m sorry, hyung, but…” He looked down and then away. “I just can’t”

Seungyoon looked away and nodded. “Okay, it’s your decision. It doesn’t matter. We’re friends and nothing more after all,” Seungyoon tried hard not to sound bitter, but he was sure he failed. 

Taehyun got out of the bed, “I’ll leave now.” Seungyoon watched him pick up his close from the corner of his eye. He was sure his emotions would overflow if he watched Taehyun leave directly. 

 

With all of his clothes in hand, Taehyun headed for the door of the room. He stopped right before leaving and turned to look at Seungyoon. “I’m sorry, hyung. I think I took advantage of you for far too long. I knew how much you- and I think I like -I know I’m” His words were caught on his throat, and he bit his lower lip. Taehyun nodded and looked down, “Anyways, bye.” And just like that, he left. 

 

And Seungyoon was glad, because he was currently watching tears fall and splash on the bed covers. When he heard Taehyun leave through the front door, he dropped his head on the pillow. He could care less if he was being used. He enjoyed being used, because he was with Taehyun, and he loved being with Taehyun, and if the deal lasted for almost a year, Taehyun knew that Seungyoon enjoyed being with Taehyun no matter what. This was not about Seungyoon though, and because of that, Seungyoon’s heart cried. Those stuttered fragments Taehyun left behind ringed on Seungyoon’s head. It scared Seungyoon to hear those fragments being turned into sentences. 

 

Though that would not change anything. Seungyoon lost. He completely lost, and he did not do anything to not lose. Seungyoon should have known. Their relationship ended as abruptly as it started. What could have possibly made him believe that Taehyun would love him back? Taehyun had said time and time again that he would not fall in love. He was a wild horse after all, and Seungyoon failed to catch that wild horse, because he never tried. That was it and nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending has come! How sad, but I do hope it is bittersweetness at its finest!  
> Thank you so much for reading this story. I really appreciate it. I love this story so much, so it is very important for me to know that other people did, too. I hope you all did!


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